A paramedic, who used his iPhone to spy on female colleagues in a unisex toilet, has walked free from Nenagh Courthouse, without a conviction.
Mr Robert Murphy had pleaded guilty in March 2013 to a charge of harassment committed on May 5th 2012, following the discovery of his iPhone in a toilet at a HSE ambulance base situated at Tyone, Nenagh Tipperary.
Nenagh District Court were told of how one of Mr Murphy’s female colleagues had noticed a box of disposable gloves with holes punched in it, perched on a windowsill at the toilet. When she examined the box closely she discovered Mr Murphy’s phone recording her in video mode.
The unnamed victim of the case then complained to her supervisor and Mr Murphy admitted guilt, apologised and deleted the video recording in front of the victim, Nenagh court was told.
The following day Gardaí visited Mr Murphy’s home and the father of three again admitted his guilt.
In court today Mr Murphy’s solicitor stated to Judge Elizabeth MacGrath that his client had previously put his life in danger for the public’s safety and had performed over and above the line of duty in his occupation as a paramedic, and he could not see any service to the people of Ireland in State law now recording a conviction in this particular case.
The court was informed that Mr Murphy, who was supported in court by family and friends, had fully engaged with the probation services and continued to undergo counselling, having paid €5,000 in compensation to his accuser.
The court was also informed that Mr Murphy was facing serious disciplinary action by his employers, the HSE, and if a conviction was recorded it would have very serious consequences for any future employment.
Judge Elizabeth MacGrath took into consideration Mr Murphy’s previous unblemished character; his traumatic life as a child when his mother was murdered and his father’s conviction, forcing him to move from the US to Ireland at the age of eight years; the fact that he had engaged fully with the probation services and also that Mr Murphy’s wife had been diagnosed with cancer four years ago, into her judgement decision.
In applied the Probation Act, Judge MacGrath stated that the accused had gone as far as he could go, in making amends and that he was of very low risk of re-offending or of becoming a danger to anyone into the future.
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