Cork woman jailed for sustained campaign of harassment against surgeon

Cork woman Ethel Noonan, aged 45, sent emails to the victim and her colleagues slandering the victim's reputation with false claims. File Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

A woman who carried out a sustained campaign of harassment against a consultant surgeon because she was unhappy with a procedure has been jailed for two and a half years.

Cork woman Ethel Noonan, aged 45, sent emails to the victim and her colleagues slandering the victim's reputation with false claims that she was engaging in female genital mutilation (FGM), was involved in a “dark underworld of child porn”, and should be locked up.

Noonan was convicted after a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last July of harassing the medic between February 2017 and February 2020.

Noonan, with addresses at Coolroe, Fermoy, Co Cork, and St Laurence's Rd, Clontarf, Co Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the charge, and she had represented herself in the trial and at the sentence hearing.

Garda Sarah Connaughton told John Byrne, prosecuting, that in early 2015, the victim carried out an elective surgical procedure on the defendant. There were some complications and Noonan was unhappy. She then emailed a number of serious allegations and complaints to the Irish Medical Council.

These were investigated by the council and ultimately not upheld. In February 2017, the email correspondence from Noonan took a sinister and criminal turn, Mr Byrne said.

The court heard that Noonan started a campaign of sending emails to politicians, medical bodies, colleagues, and professionals accusing the victim of “being sick”, “criminally psychopathic behaviour”, being “a paedophile”, and needing “to be locked up”.  Further correspondence falsely alleged that the victim was engaging in FGM.

Formal complaint

Garda Connaughton told the court that the victim was initially reluctant to make a formal complaint, but could see no other way of dealing with the matter. Even after gardaí approached Noonan about her actions, she continued to harass the surgeon.

In a victim impact report, the doctor said Noonan had a right to complain to the Irish Medical Council — noting this was the only complaint made against her in 35 years of practice.

She said the sustained campaign of harassment that followed was intended to damage her personal and professional reputation. She said she was required to reply to all of Noonan's repeated submissions to the  council, adding that it was exhausting.

She said it felt devastating to feel her reputation was under attack.

“I was extremely upset and frightened when I found out she knew where I lived,” the victim said, adding that she felt fearful for her own and her family's safety. She said the harassment directly influenced her decision to take early retirement from public practice.

Judge Patricia Ryan noted that she had advised Noonan that she could bring any mitigating facts to the attention of the court, but that she did not do this. Judge Ryan said she had repeatedly requested the defendant to provide medical reports, but she did not provide this material.

Headline sentence

Given the serious nature of the allegations by Noonan during a “prolonged period” of harassment, she said a headline sentence of five years was appropriate.

To take into consideration the single mitigating factor of no other criminal convictions, Judge Ryan reduced the sentence to four years. She suspended the final 18 months for five years on condition Noonan keep the peace for the five years.

Judge Ryan ordered Noonan to stay away from the victim for 10 years and to not communicate with her, personally or through any channels of communication whatsoever, or cause anyone on her behalf to contact the victim. She said if that order is breached, it is the subject of another criminal offence.

During the hearing, the defendant repeatedly asked to speak and repeatedly made claims about the doctor being in possessions of sensitive private information about her.

Judge Ryan said that the defendant seemed to not understand that the court could not reopen the matters she was trying to raise because the jury verdict was in and the court cannot go behind the verdict.

Noonan spent two weeks previously in custody after failing to appear in court a day into her trial in June.