A FORMER Co Clare doctor, who was acquitted earlier this year of charges of defrauding terminally ill patients, has had an unrelated case of assault against him adjourned until November after a court was told the Health Service Executive has refused to provide the defence with medical notes.
Paschal Carmody (60), Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, Co Clare, appeared before Killaloe District Court yesterday on a single charge of assaulting John Somers at Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, on March 8th, 2007.
Mr Carmody's solicitor, Michael Staines, told the court that he had sought medical notes made by the doctor who treated the "alleged victim" while in hospital.
However, the HSE declined to provide them and said they would not do so unless ordered to by the court.
Mr Staines stated, however, that he was ready to proceed with the case but asked the judge to issue an order seeking "medical notes compiled by the doctor who saw the alleged victim in hospital on March 9th, 2007, to be handed over to gardaí". He said he had not been made aware of the doctor's name but said the doctor was no longer in the jurisdiction.
Insp John Galvin questioned the relevance of the notes to the case but did not object to the court order being made when asked by Judge Joseph Mangan.
The judge issued the order and Mr Carmody is due to appear in court again on November 11th next in relation to the matter.
Last July, during a trial at Ennis Circuit Court, Mr Carmody was acquitted of 14 of the 25 charges of deception he faced in respect of six alleged injured parties, all of whom had died of cancer.
The initial 25 charges referred to a total of six people who died from cancer.
However, during Mr Carmody's trial, Judge Rory McCabe instructed the jury to return not guilty verdicts in respect of eight of those charges because of a lack of evidence.
The remaining 17 charges that were put to the jury pertained to three of the original six patients. All three had suffered from terminal cancer and had undergone various treatments at Mr Carmody's East Clinic in Killaloe.
They were: John James Gallagher, Kingswood Manor, Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Conor O'Sullivan, Granite Lodge, Gorey, Co Wexford; and John Sheridan, Kells, Co Kilkenny.
After 6½ hours of deliberations over two days, during which they sifted through five weeks of evidence, a jury of eight men and three women found Mr Carmody not guilty on eight charges, as directed by the judge. The former GP was further acquitted on six charges by the jury, which could not agree a verdict in respect of 11 other offences.
The DPP has yet to decide whether to seek a retrial in respect of the 11 charges on which the jury could not agree a verdict.