The mother of a teenager who tragically died by suicide has secured High Court orders restraining Gemma O’Doherty from harassing her.
The orders were granted on Friday evening by Mr Justice Conor Dignam in favour of Edel Campbell, who claims she has been the subject of a campaign of harassment by Ms Doherty after suing the journalist over the alleged unauthorised publication of her late son’s image on media associated with the defendant.
It is alleged that Ms O’Doherty has wrongly and unlawfully used the image of plaintiff’s son Diego Gilsenan (18) in an article linking unexplained deaths to the Covid-19 vaccination. Mr Justice Dignam made orders including ones restraining Ms O’Doherty from harassing the plaintiff, or from publishing images of Ms Campbell or her late son or any personal confidential material about them.
Ms O’Doherty is also restrained from encouraging or inciting others to intimidate the plaintiff.
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The court also made orders requiring Ms O’Doherty to take down and remove any image of the plaintiff and her late son from any form of media that she owns or operates. The orders are to remain in place pending the final outcome of Ms Campbell’s action against Ms O’Doherty, trading as “The Irish Light”.
The judge said that, while he was not making any final determination of the claim, he was satisfied to grant the injunction because Ms Campbell had made a strong case that the defendant’s actions towards her “amount to harassment”.
The judge noted evidence put before the court where the defendant had made comments in online talks and videos about Ms Campbell, including that she was “a bad mother”, as well as allegedly untrue comments about her son, and the circumstances of his death. The judge also noted that Ms O’Doherty had made comments in her online lectures where she spoke about Ms Campbell that were anti-Semitic and had engaged in Holocaust denial. The judge said that the case raised a number of novel and complex legal issues, including arguments on the freedom of speech.
These were matters that can be argued at the full hearing of the action, he said. The injunctions are to remain in place pending the full hearing of the claim.
Ms O’Doherty was not present in court during Friday’s hearing, nor were any representations made on her behalf. In emails to the plaintiff’s lawyers given to the court Ms Doherty denied the defendants allegations and rejected all claims that she has done anything wrong.
She said that she was not able to come to court as she was currently on holidays, and she had only been given two days advance notice of the application. In his ruling Mr Justice Dignam, acknowledged the contents of her emails.
The judge said he was satisfied to proceed to hear and the determine the application in her absence as no objections had been made before the court to matter going ahead.
Last May Ms Campbell, represented by David Kennedy SC, with Paul Comiskey O’Keeffe Bl instructed by solicitor Ciaran Mulholland, launched a High Court action aimed at restraining Ms O’Doherty, trading as “The Irish Light”, from using or publishing the image of Ms Campbell’s late son for any purpose without the plaintiff’s consent.
The plaintiff claims that Ms O’Doherty is a journalist and the publisher of The Irish Light, a free periodical newspaper, and the publisher/editor of a website of the same name.
Following Mr Gilsenan’s death in August 2021 it is claimed that Ms O’Doherty used her son’s image in an article which it is claimed wrongly stated that he died as a result of the administration of the Covid-19 vaccination.
Ms Campbell, from Kingscourt, Co Cavan, claims that despite making several pleas to Ms O’Doherty to cease using her son’s image, the defendant has allegedly refused to do so, and has denied that the use of the image is unethical.
Ms Campbell claims that the unauthorised and repeated use of her son’s image amounts to a harassment and breach of her constitutional rights, and has caused her emotional pain, suffering and harm.
Seeking the injunctions on Friday, her counsel Mr Kennedy said the defendant’s conduct towards Ms Campbell in social posts became “exponentially worse” after the action was launched. She also claims that as a result of an alleged direct call for action by Ms O’Doherty anonymous attack accounts have been set up on social media in an attempt to target Ms Campbell.
Counsel said that a lot of the material posted by the defendant in online lectures and talks about his client, a grieving mother whose health has suffered as a result of the harassment, was “horrendous” and went “beyond the beyond” and outside the limits of what can been considered the right to freedom of speech.
Counsel said his client had asked Ms O’Doherty to stop using the photo of her son, which it is claimed was taken from Rip.ie and used without consent, but the defendant had refused to do so. Ms Campbell had only come to court as “a last resort,” counsel added.
The action will return before the court at a later date.