Woman awarded €50,000 damages after mother-in-law's partner recorded her naked in the shower

Woman burst into tears when judge told her he was awarding her €50,000 damages and €500 for medical expenses for what he described as a wicked and horrible breach of her privacy by someone she trusted

Court heard woman knew absolutely nothing about the recordings for several months during 2020, and only found out about them when approached by gardaí who had been investigating the man in relation to similar activities relating to another woman at work.

A 34-year-old mother of two and community centre worker, who was covertly recorded naked while showering in her home, has been awarded €50,000 damages against former fellow housemate and factory worker Anthony Dunne.

Barrister Doireann O’Mahony told Judge James O’Donohoe in the Circuit Civil Court on Tuesday that Leanne Daly’s life had been devastated by Dunne, who had been in a relationship with her mother-in-law and had spent a lot of time in their home.

Ms O’Mahony told the court Ms Daly had not sought anonymity at a criminal trial at which Dunne had been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at the Circuit Criminal Court in 2022, when he admitted his crime. She was also not seeking anonymity during her civil claim for damages.

Ms Daly, of Woodford View, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, burst into tears when Judge O’Donohoe told her he was awarding her €50,500 damages against Dunne for what he described as a wicked and horrible breach of her privacy by someone she trusted.

Ms O’Mahony said Ms Daly knew absolutely nothing about the recordings for several months during 2020, and only found out about them when approached by gardaí who had been investigating Dunne in relation to similar activities relating to another woman at work.

Ms Daly told the court she was shocked, distressed and scared when gardaí showed her intimate images of her in photographs Dunne had taken of her in the shower. He had pleaded guilty at the trial and had been sentenced to a year in prison, with three months of the sentence suspended.

She told Judge O’Donohoe she had been horrified and felt completely violated, continuing to suffer from mental distress and psychological damage. Her quality of life had been destroyed and, after losing a lot of weight, literally felt a shadow of the person she had been.

What had been particularly distressing to her was she had become fearful and distrustful of the people in her life and now going into the bathroom or showering triggered frightening thoughts.

Ms Daly’s doctor, Dr Suzanne Farrell, told the court: “The uneasiness she experiences when sharing the suspicion she feels around people she would automatically have trusted will never fully resolve and unfortunately she will probably have to live with these feelings for the rest of her life.” 

Dunne, a property owner of Hazelmere, Naas, Co Kildare, told the court he had made several attempts to settle the case but his offers of compensation had been refused. He said he had failed to attend court on an earlier occasion because he did not know the case was on. 

He said he had pleaded guilty in the criminal court to offences related to photographing Ms Daly.

Judge O’Donohoe said Ms Daly had not suffered any physical injury and the court was only assessing the psychological damage caused to her to date and into the future. He awarded her €50,000 damages and €500 compensation for medical expenses.