A retired Tipperary-born surgeon, who used to work at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, has been jailed for twenty months for groping two teenage patients.
Ardfinnan native Dr. Michael Shine of Wellington Road in Dublin 4 was found guilty of indecently assaulting the boys at the hospital and his clinic in the 1970s.
One of Dr. Shine’s delivered his victim impact statement this afternoon just a few feet away from his abuser.
He was indecently assaulted on two separate occasions during follow-up examinations at his private clinic on Fair St. in Drogheda.
He described the transition between legitimate examination and sexual assault as “seamless”.
He said he felt guilty and partly responsible and decided to bury it. He didn’t tell anyone until he made a complaint over 30 years later and he said he only knew Dr. Shine had done something wrong when he denied the allegation.
The other boy was groped while restrained to a bed in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. He was being treated for an in-grown toenail.
Both were just 15 at the time and Judge Cormac Quinn described the severe breach of trust as one of the most significant aggravating factors.
He said a custodial sentence was appropriate and sentenced the Ardfinnan native to one year and eight months in prison.
