A woman has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for the false imprisonment of a baby-sitter she had accused of stealing €1,200.
Liza Brophy (33), Hartstown, Dublin, had been on bail since July 4th when she had been found guilty by a jury.
Karen Leahy (32), Patricks Park, Clondalkin, who was also found guilty of falsely imprisoning the babysitter, will be sentenced on October 15th.
Both women had been convicted of falsely imprisoning Ms Charlotte Godkin, who had been babysitting for Leahy at Sunbury Gardens, Dartry, Dublin, in December 1998. Leahy was also convicted of having assaulted Ms Godkin.
Det Sgt George McGreary told Mr Paul Coffey, prosecuting, that Brophy had worked with Leahy in an escort agency, but Brophy denied this, and Judge Yvonne Murphy said there was no evidence to support the claim.
The court had heard that Ms Godkin had started working as a babysitter for Leahy in October 1998, and everything seemed to be fine. She had been in Rathmines on the afternoon of December 16th, which was a Wednesday, with one of Leahy's children.
After she returned to the house, Leahy arrived, and Ms Godkin heard a discussion in the hall concerning €1,200 which had gone missing from Leahy's purse.
This money was to have been the children's Christmas money and had been left in cash in an envelope in Leahy's handbag. Leahy had gone shopping but had forgotten her bag and had noticed the money missing when she returned.
Leahy, accompanied by Brophy, had accused Ms Godkin of taking the money and said she was the only one who could have taken it.
Ms Godkin told the court there were several other people in and out of the house that day, including some decorators.
She denied she had taken the money, and Leahy had started screaming and shouting. She had picked up a hammer and had threatened to "do a nice job" on her legs. Judge Murphy had heard that Ms Godkin had been kept in a spare bedroom at night and in a bathroom during the day.
Judge Murphy said the appropriate sentence was nine months, but she was taking into account an offer of €5,000 to Ms Godkin as compensation, Brophy's diabetes and her young dependent son.