A FORMER president of a conference of St Vincent de Paul who was found guilty of harassing four women at one of its charity shops, has had the case against him dismissed.
Michael Dooley (73), Lennon Melia Terrace, Dundalk, had denied the charges of harassing the women at the St Vincent de Paul shop on Jocelyn Street, Dundalk, between January 1st, 2001, and December 30th, 2009.
Two weeks ago a special sitting of the District Court had heard details of his behaviour and the judge had found him guilty.
That court heard he had put a measuring tape around one woman to measure her bra size and had given another woman a “present” of a red thong.
Three of the women were working in the shop on Fás placements. The fourth, who visited workers in it, was described as having a learning disability.
At that hearing, Judge Flann Brennan said he was satisfied that all the women “were in a vulnerable position” because they perceived themselves to be employees and perceived Mr Dooley “to be the employer”.
Judge Brennan said it was clear that what had happened was very upsetting for the injured parties.
The court was previously told the women were pursuing legal actions against Mr Dooley, which Judge Brennan said was “perfectly proper”.
Passing sentence yesterday morning, the judge said he also had to take into account all mitigating factors.
Defence barrister Ciarán Oakes yesterday said Mr Dooley suffered from a number of health complaints, including diabetes. He also had stents inserted in his heart a number of years ago. Mr Oakes said gardaí accepted Mr Dooley had co-operated fully.
There was undesirable hugging taking place in the shop and it was “commonplace”, Mr Oakes added.
Judge Brennan said Mr Dooley was “a man of impeccable character other than this” and it was certain he would not be before the courts again. The judge said he had to take into consideration the atmosphere that existed in the shop where “it was quite clear that, rightly or wrongly, a lot of hugging went on”.
He said Mr Dooley had acted in a “very improper manner and it is obvious the injured parties felt very distressed by what he did and what he said”.
Judge Brennan then said he was satisfied it was a case where a contribution to the court poor box might be appropriate.
A donation of €500 was made available by the defence side to the court poor box. The judge said he was finding the facts proven and dismissing the case under the Probation Act.
What the women said: 'He shouldn't have got away with it, €500 is not enough
THE FOUR women who complained of harassment by now Michael Dooley (73) at a St Vincent de Paul charity shop over a period of nine years expressed their anger yesterday at the outcome of the case.
“He shouldn’t have got away with it , €500 is not enough. We thought he would be sent away, a suspended sentence at least,” one of them said.
Aged in her mid-50s, she had made complaints to gardaí in Dundalk alleging harassment by Mr Dooley. “€500 would be buttons to him. They said he got stents in his heart so he got away with it – because he got stents in his heart. It’s just not on.”
Along with the other women, she gave evidence at the special sitting of Dundalk District Court earlier this month.
“It is like the church. The St Vincent de Paul is like the church – they are all ‘goodie- goodies’ going to Mass and he is a dirty old man,” she said.
“It’s a disgrace.”
However, the women all said they would have gone ahead with the court case even if they knew he would face a fine and not a jail sentence.
“Oh yes,” they replied when asked about this.
They said the past two weeks since the court case “have been a nightmare” as they awaited the outcome.
“We have been dreading this day,” said another of the women.
Another woman added: “I had a feeling he would get off.”