A judge has ordered Gemma O'Doherty to appear before the High Court to answer her alleged refusal to obey an order not to harass the mother of a young man who died by suicide.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey made the ruling after being satisfied that Ms O'Doherty had breached the terms of a court order and should come before the court on Friday morning to answer her alleged contempt.
The judge granted the order sought on behalf of Edel Campbell, who is suing Ms O'Doherty over the use of an image of her late son, Diego Gilsenan, on a publication run by the defendant.
Ms O'Doherty was not in court on Wednesday when the application was made.
Last June, Ms Campbell's lawyers obtained orders from the court against Ms O'Doherty including an injunction restraining the defendant from harassing, intimidating or communicating with the plaintiff and her family.
Ms Campbell, represented by David Kennedy SC, appearing with Paul Comiskey O'Keeffe Bl, instructed by solicitor Ciaran Mulholland, claims the order had been breached on "numerous occasions" by Ms O'Doherty.
Videos
It is claimed that in a series of video posts made by Ms O'Doherty on dates in June, July, August and September of last year, and earlier this year, the defendant has made statements in clear disregard and in breach of the injunction.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Sanfey said it was very clear what the High Court had in mind when it granted the injunction against Ms O'Doherty last June which was to halt the intimidation of Ms Campbell.
The judge said that Ms O'Doherty, and comments posted on The Irish Light's social media account, had made many references to Ms Campbell and the circumstances of the unfortunate death of her son.
The court heard that Ms O'Doherty had stated that Ms Campbell was telling lies, made remarks about the plaintiff's mental health, and had questions to answer about her son's death.
Online posts allegedly from The Irish Light, a publication linked to the defendant, described the order as an attempt to prevent and silence Ms O'Doherty, who describes herself as an investigative journalist, from probing what she says are unexplained deaths of young people.
One post, the judge noted, said Ms Campbell was being used as part of an "anti-Gemma psyop" by the defendant's enemies.
In her application, Ms Campbell claims the injunction had been "ineffective" in halting the alleged intimidation of the plaintiff by Ms O'Doherty, the judge said.
Nobody could be under any illusion that the intimidation of Ms Campbell by the defendant had continued after the injunction was granted, the judge added.
Order of attachment
He said "journalism could not be used as an excuse for the sort of conduct that the defendant has appeared to engage in", adding: "Journalism is a rigorous exercise of fact checking and giving both sides of the story."
The court also noted that Ms O'Doherty, who he said was apparently on a speaking tour, had not come to court either for Wednesday's hearing, nor when the injunction was sought last June, to defend her position.
He was further satisfied that she was aware of and had been properly served with the proceedings.
In the circumstance,s the judge said he was satisfied to grant an order of attachment, which requires Ms O'Doherty to come before the court and answer claims that she is in contempt.
During Wednesday's hearing, the judge warned that any recording or filming of the proceedings could be a contempt of court, and anyone who sought to disrupt the proceedings would be asked to leave.
The judge made his remarks after Mr Kennedy said a recording of a previous hearing of the application had been posted online, and someone in the public gallery shouted that the hearing was "a farce".
Several people holding copies of The Irish Light attended court on Wednesday.
In his submissions, Mr Kennedy said that much of what had been said in the posts about his client was "particularly egregious".
Counsel claimed what was said was "clearly designed to intimidate and part of a campaign" against Ms Campbell, who has suffered emotional harm and distress as a result.
Limitations
Counsel said that "freedom of speech is important," but when one looked at the comments made by Ms O'Doherty about his client, "there has to be a limitation on it".
The court had previously heard that Ms O'Doherty denies any wrongdoing.
Ms Campbell sought the injunctions as part of her action against Ms O'Doherty over the alleged unauthorised publication of the image of plaintiff's late son.
She claims Ms O'Doherty has wrongly and unlawfully used the image of the plaintiff's son in an article published on media controlled by Ms O'Doherty linking unexplained deaths to the Covid-19 vaccine.
The injunction restrains Ms O'Doherty from harassing the plaintiff, or from publishing Ms Campbell's and her late son's images or any personal confidential material about them.
Ms O’Doherty is also restrained from encouraging or inciting others to intimidate the plaintiff and was ordered to take down and remove any image of Ms Campbell and her late son from any form of media that she owned or operated by the defendant.
That order is to remain in place pending the final outcome of Ms Campbell's action against Ms O'Doherty, trading as 'The Irish Light'.
The plaintiff claims Ms O'Doherty is a journalist and the publisher of The Irish Light, a free periodical newspaper, and the publisher/editor of The Irish Light website.
Following Mr Gilsenan's death in August 2021, it is claimed that Ms O'Doherty used the image of the plaintiff's son in an article which wrongly stated he died as a result of the administration of the Covid vaccine.
Ms Campbell, from Kingscourt, Co Cavan, claims that Ms O'Doherty has refused to stop using her son's image and that the unauthorised and repeated use of her son's image amounts to harassment and a breach of her constitutional rights.
She claims the defendant's actions have caused her emotional pain, suffering and harm.
Ms O'Doherty rejects all of the allegations of wrongdoing made against her.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can freephone the Samaritans 24 hours a day for confidential support at 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
You can also freephone the national Bereavement Support Line run by the HSE and Irish Hospice Foundation at 1800-80 70 77 (Monday-Friday 10am-1pm), and the contact information for a range of mental health supports is available at mentalhealthireland.ie/get-support/.
In the case of an emergency, or if you or someone you know is at risk of suicide or self-harm, dial 999/112.
