A RETIRED surgeon who groped seven boys in his care over a period of three decades has been jailed for four years.

Michael Shine (86) of Ballsbridge, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 12 charges of indecent assault and one charge of sexual 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 sentenced Shine to four years imprisonment for one count of indecent assault. He sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment for all other counts and ordered that each sentence run concurrently.

Judge Nolan said that the appropriate headline sentence in the absence of mitigation was one of seven years imprisonment. He described the offending as a “serious pattern of misbehaviour”.

At an earlier sentence hearing, Detective Garda Seamus Nolan told Cathleen Noctor SC, prosecuting, that Shine indecently assaulted six boys aged between 11 and 15 on dates ranging from 1971 to 1988. He said the sole count of sexual assault related to an incident in 1992 when the injured party was aged 16.

Det Gda Nolan said that during the trial a medical expert gave evidence that there was no medical basis for the behaviour described by the seven men.

Shine has three previous convictions for indecent assault relating to two complainants who were both aged 15 in 1975 and he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment in late 2017. These convictions are currently under appeal.

Speaking outside the court after Shine was sentenced, Patrick Cusack (56), one of the injured parties in the case who has waived his right to anonymity, said it was a “good day for me and for all victims of abuse, but particularly the victims of abuse of Michael Shine”.

Mr Cusack encouraged others who have been the victims of abuse to come forward and seek help. He said he was “delighted” with the sentence and that it was “most appropriate”, but said that the conviction had been more important.

“He (Shine) will never say sorry. Paedophiles don’t say sorry, it’s their chemical make-up,” Mr Cusack said. He went on to say he expects that Shine will never acknowledge himself or any of his victims.

“He will self gratify in his abuse, but that’s as far as it goes. You are just a toy in his world.”

Judge Nolan said the aggravating factors in the case were the number of assaults and that as a doctor Shine was in a position of trust. Further aggravating factors were that the victims were at the time “vulnerable” boys, that there was no expression of remorse and that Shine has previous convictions for offences of this type.

He said the mitigating factors were Shine’s age, his health challenges, his good work record, his being held in high regard by his family and that there was a possibility of him dying while imprisoned.

Judge Nolan said it had been well decided by precedent that age is no barrier to prison sentences.

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