Contempt of court proceedings against Gemma O'Doherty over her alleged harassment of the Cavan mother of a young man who took his own life have been adjourned to a date in July. The adjournment was sought to allow Edel Campbell's lawyers address a claim made in the proceedings by Ms O'Doherty regarding third party funding of Ms Campbell's case.
Jack Cunnane reports: "O'Doherty has previously claimed a fundraiser, allegedly for legal expenses, had been organised for Ms Campbell and allegedly raised over €24,000. Ms O'Doherty has reported the matter to the Gardaí. Many of the donors to this fundraiser were anonymous, Ms O'Doherty added. Ms Campbell's side deny any wrongdoing, and reject Ms O'Doherty's claims.
Ms O'Doherty, who was not in court on Wednesday, has claimed that the law which prevents the third party funding of legal actions, known as 'champerty and maintenance' has been broken by the plaintiff. Edel Campbell of Kingscourt, Co Cavan, has sued Ms O'Doherty, trading as "The Irish Light", over the alleged unauthorised use of an image of Ms Campbell's late son Diego Gilsenan. The photo was used in an Irish Light article linking unexplained deaths to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Ms Campbell secured an injunction restraining Ms O'Doherty, who rejects all Ms Campbell's claims against her, from harassing the plaintiff. It's alleged that Ms O'Doherty has not complied with that order and Ms Campbell sought orders that could see the defendant sent to prison for contempt due to the alleged breaches. Ms O'Doherty strongly rejects that she is in contempt of court.
The matter was briefly mentioned before Mr Justice Mark Sanfey on Wednesday. Paul Comiskey O'Keeffe Bl, instructed by solicitor Ciaran Mulholland, for Ms Campbell said that his side was seeking time to produce an additional sworn statement in the action. The judge said that he was prepared to allow the plaintiff's side to produce the sworn statement, but said that Ms O'Doherty should be allowed to reply to that document before the matter returns before the court in early July. The judge also expressed his concern that Gemma O'Doherty was not in court.
