Court hears woman was massively anorexic

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by a Dublin publican over a number of months was "massively anorexic and acutely…

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by a Dublin publican over a number of months was "massively anorexic and acutely depressed" when he saw her in 1993, a doctor told the High Court yesterday.

Dr James O'Neill said he referred Ms Monica Reilly for emergency psychiatric admission to St James's Hospital when he saw her on May 13th, 1993.

Yesterday was the third day of the action by Ms Reilly (22), of South Brown Street, Dublin against publican Mr William Bonny, of the Bonny and Clyde pub, Newmarket.

It is claimed the incidents took place while Ms Reilly was working at the pub between September 1992 and her birthday in May 1993. Mr Bonny denies the claim.

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Earlier Ms Reilly, in evidence, said she had wanted to kill herself because of what had happened to her. She had spent three periods in the psychiatric unit of St James's Hospital.

Dr O'Neill, a general practitioner in the Coombe area, said he saw Ms Reilly on May 13th, 1993 and she was massively anorexic and acutely depressed. She told him about "the incident" but was unable to speak about it at length and asked him not to inform her parents.

Dr Anthony Bates, a senior psychologist at St James's Hospital, said he had seen Ms Reilly in hospital shortly after her admission in May 1993. She was suicidal, very depressed and agitated, and had lost more than three stone. There was no suggestion at the time that she was involved in drug abuse.

She had told him in general terms about experiences involving her employer, and these related to sexual contact of an inappropriate nature between them.

He said it was decided that Ms Reilly should see a social worker, Ms Betty Drury, to pursue and explore the issues raised. Over the following year and more, Ms Reilly had between 40 and 50 sessions with Ms Drury.

Dr Bates said an IQ test was carried out on Ms Reilly in 1993. She was found to be significantly below normal intelligence and in the lower seven to eight per cent of the population. This would give her, in crude terms, a mental age of between 11 and 12 years at the time.

Ms Reilly would have difficulty understanding concepts and would be a slow learner with a limited vocabulary, he said. She would not have understood a term such as vasectomy unless it was explained in more simple terms.

Dr Bates said he met Ms Reilly again in October 1996. She was calm and co-operative but was concerned about the court proceedings.

She felt very guilty about what had happened and blamed herself. He had raised the matter of money and she said she had not thought about money and did not want a settlement.

She wanted an apology and to hear the word "guilty", and to recognise that what had happened to her was real and important.

He said it was common for persons who had been abused to blame themselves. Ms Reilly had felt that she should have stopped the events happening, and was puzzled why she could stop them sometimes but not at others.

He said this could be understood in terms of bullying and was very common among abuse victims. Ms Reilly felt Mr Bonny followed her everywhere and there were constant remarks and lowlevel touching.

At a point Ms Reilly's resistance had worn out and she went into a passive mode of acceptance. He said few abuse victims tell their parents about what is happening to them at the time.

Dr Bates said he had found no inconsistencies in the account Ms Reilly had given him of what happened to her.

Cross-examined by Mr Martin Giblin SC, for Mr Bonny, he agreed that he had received a referral letter regarding Ms Reilly when he first saw her in 1993, and that the letter stated she had said she had had sexual relations with boys. He agreed when re-examined by Ms Macken SC, for Ms Reilly, that Ms Reilly understood sexual relations to involve any touching by a boy.

Dr Bates agreed with Mr Giblin that the IQ test carried out on Ms Reilly was not complete and might reflect an understatement of her intelligence, "but not radically." He rejected a suggestion by Mr Giblin that because he had seen Ms Reilly only in 1993 and October 1996, he could not validly express the opinions he had expressed.

He said he had seen her a number of times in 1996 and had sought to corroborate his views by reading medical files and consulting other staff members.

Ms Melissa Redmond, of St Teresa's Gardens and a friend of Ms Reilly, said that during a trip to Liverpool to see Steve Collins boxing, she saw Mr Bonny in a pub.

He sat beside her and asked her if she was "still going witness for Monica." She said she was not sure and he said: "If you go witness for Monica, it is a 50/50 chance she will win and if you don't it is a 50/50 chance I will win."

Ms Redmond said that she thought he was indicating that if she did not "go witness for Monica" he "could give me something." She admitted he did not say something like that to her and he did not offer her money.

The hearing resumes on Wednesday next.