SHINE FOUND GUILTY
Former surgeon to be sentenced for indecent assaults
A RETIRED surgeon has been found guilty of groping seven boys in his care over a period of three decades.
Michael Shine (86) of Ballsbridge, Dublin had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to thirteen charges of indecent assault committed during medical examinations at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth and at two private clinics in Drogheda on dates between 1971 to 1992.
On day 17 of the trial a jury of two women and eight men returned guilty verdicts, having deliberated for after just over six hours.
Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the matter until February 22 next for sentencing and remanded Shine on bail until that date.
Shine denied doing anything improper during examinations with any of the complainants and said he has “no memory whatsoever” of ever treating any of them.
Judge Nolan said that a medical expert had given evidence that the actions alleged in the case were medically inappropriate and that they did constitute indecent assault if the jury accepted the evidence of the complainants beyond a reasonable doubt.
He told the jury that people “can be inaccurate about one thing and very accurate about others”.
In her closing remarks to the jury, Cathleen Noctor SC, prosecuting, said that the accounts of all complainants in the case were similar. She said that the evidence was that each alleged assault happened to a male child while they were alone with their doctor. SEE PAGE 25.
A retired surgeon has been found guilty of groping seven boys in his care over a period of three decades.
Michael Shine (86) of Ballsbridge, Dublin had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to thirteen charges of indecent assault committed during medical examinations at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth and at two private clinics in Drogheda on dates between 1971 to 1992.
On day 17 of the trial a jury of two women and eight men returned guilty verdicts, having deliberated for just over six hours.
Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the matter until February 22 next for sentencing and remanded Shine on bail until that date.
During the trial, the first complainant told the court that Shine groped his genitals during two appointments in 1988 following surgery on his finger when he was aged 15.
He said that during the first examination Shine rested his head on his chest and that his breathing became more intense and “creepy, to be honest”.
Another man said that Shine prevented his father from being present for an examination following surgery on his testicles in 1985 when he was aged 13. He said that Shine placed his hand on his penis during the exam and began to move his foreskin up and down.
A third witness said he attended hospital due to tearing his foreskin during sexual intercourse when he was aged 15.
The man said that during an examination on his injury, Shine began to masturbate his penis up and down for five to ten minutes, ending with him squeezing its top.
The fourth complainant in the case said that he was hit by a car during the summer of 1972 when he was aged 14 and that he required surgery on his right knee. He said that Shine would come to his room in the evening to play chess with him during his stay in hospital.
The man said that during a follow up appointment Shine began “playing with” and “fondling” his genitals and stroking his penis, telling him that “you could tell a lot this way”. He said he did not think that Shine ever examined his knee.
A fifth man said that Shine inserted a gloved finger into his anus and his other hand began “palpating” his genitals during an examination in 1974 when he was aged around 11. He said that afterwards Shine patted him on the head and told him he was a “good boy”.
The man said that during a later stay in hospital Shine would examine his wound from surgery and that every time he did so he would go on to “palpate” his penis and scrotum. He said that Shine did this every day up until the day he was discharged from hospital.
A sixth man said that Shine performed surgery on his appendix at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in 1971 when he was aged 13. He said that during a follow-up examination Shine began fondling his testicles and stroking his penis, saying that he needed to check that nothing was damaged.
The final complainant in the case said that Shine took his penis in his hand and began to masturbate it during an examination in 1975 when he was aged 13. He said that this continued for around 10 to 15 minutes.
During the trial Cathleen Noctor SC, prosecuting, put it to Mr Shine that a man gave evidence that in 1971 when he was aged 13 during examinations following surgery on his appendix Mr Shine fondled his testicles and stroked his penis.
Mr Shine said that there were no medical records of the examinations occurring and said that putting alleged events from so many years ago to him at this stage in his life ‘is unfair, is unjust, is wrong.’
He said that the reality was that if someone had surgery on their appendix, a surgeon would see them briefly to determine that they were fully recovered and ‘ you weren’t concerned with them after that.’
Mr Shine said that the allegation he masturbated a different 13 year old patient following surgery for testicular torsion and that he only stopped when the teenager said he was unlikely to ejaculate as he had previously masturbated the night before was ‘unbelievable’ and ‘shocking.’
He said the incident had absolutely never happened and said he had never discussed masturbation with a patient in his whole life.
He agreed that doing as the complainant described would have been medically inappropriate.
‘It is impossible, because it never occurred,’ he said.
Ms Noctor said that the accounts of all complainants in the case were similar. She said that the evidence was that each alleged assault happened to a male child while they were alone with their doctor and that the nature of the assaults themselves were similar.
Ms Noctor asked the jury to consider the ‘dynamics’ regarding persons coming forward and making allegations such as these in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
She said that every person in the country was entitled to undertake both civil and criminal cases regarding events they say occurred.
In his closing speech to the jury, Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, said that this was ‘a very unusual case’ due to the length of time between the alleged offences and the trial.
He suggested that memories fail and that people can be open to suggestion and false memory.
Mr Hartnett said that all seven complainants in the case went to the support group Dignity 4 Patients and that all of them had brought civil proceedings.
He said it was the burden of the prosecution to prove that there was no contamination of the complainants by Dignity 4 Patients.
The retired surgeon had earlier said he had ‘no memory whatsoever’ of any of the seven complainants.
Mr Shine told Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, that he began working at Lourdes hospital in March of 1964 and continued to do so until 1995.
He said that he had written a paper with a colleague on the frequent misdiagnosis of infection in cases of testicular torsion. He said that when checking testicles for torsion or cancer, he ‘examined patients as required, fully as required.’
Mr Shine said it is necessary to touch the testicles during an examination following surgery for testicular torsion.
He said it is not necessary to touch the penis, but because it is beside the testicles a doctor cannot really avoid touching it.
He said it was ‘impossible’ that he masturbated a young patient in a hospital bed after operating on him, as he would have been in the children’s ward and he would not see any child without a nurse being present.
Judge Martin Nolan Had told the jurors that they must approach each of the 13 individual charges separately.
Judge Nolan said that a medical expert had given evidence that the actions alleged in the case were medically inappropriate and that they did constitute indecent assault if the jury accepted the evidence of the complainants beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury returned a guilty verdict on Friday afternoon last, after the trial had concluded at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
Sentencing will be imposed on February 22nd