The Gazette 1995

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995

GAZETTE

H wuinniiín (itanífiiiiiiiil

harassment include the sending of a hearse with a coffin to collect the body of a person who was very much alive. Most cases fall into the sexual category. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and professional persons of all backgrounds "blight" themselves over the telephone with obsessional revenge. In December 1994 (The Times December 16, 1994) in the case of DPP v Gelder a bank clerk, who had made legal history when he was jailed for causing grievous bodily harm by making obscene telephone calls, had his conviction quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal. The conviction was quashed because of an error by the trial judge. He had spent five months in jail for subjecting his victim to a psychological battering. The anonymous calls to a customer of his bank involved sexual suggestions and remarks about her job, car, age, clothing and new hairstyle. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor, said that because the appeal was allowed on the grounds of the judge's misdirection, there was no need to consider a separate ground of appeal in which the appellant claimed it was impossible to inflict grievous bodily harm over the telephone constituting an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861. cover telephone calls of an obscene, menacing or similar character - must first make a complaint to the Gardai. The Gardai, pursuant to section 98 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 request Telecom Eireann engineers to initiate a surveillance and interception process. Prosecutions then follow. In Ireland, persons who receive "nuisance" calls - a term used to

Dr. Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor

Grievous Bodily Harm by Telephone

Not too long ago, some lawyers arranged to have themselves called to the telephone while lunching with clients. It was a desire for recognition, a desire to demonstrate how much the lawyer's services were in demand. Today the desire for power and status surmise) make frenzied calls over the Atlantic from the Concorde. Some (non-lawyers, of course!) "yap" constantly into tiny 'phones they keep in their pockets; judges have threatened lawyers, litigants and witnesses with contempt of court when mobile 'phones buzz in their court. Some have become obsessed with the telephone and there are people who, when they are not on the 'phone, have nothing to say to the people in direct physical contact with them. This introduction has touched on one sad fact of life today: obsession with the telephone by persons intent on causing injury - psychological or physical to others. This phenomenon is on the increase. The specific law in Ireland regulating "nuisance" telephone calls is specified in section 13 (1) of the Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951 as amended by section 8 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983. A person who sends any message or other matter (eg text by facsimile) which is grossly offensive has not changed. Some lawyers (relatively few Irish lawyers I

false, or persistently makes use of the telecommunication system of Telecom Eireann for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience is liable on summary conviction to a fine of £800 and imprisonment for one year. On indictment, such a person is liable to a fine of £50,000 or 5 years imprisonment. "Not too long ago, some lawyers arranged to have themselves called to the telephone while lunching with clients. It was a desire for recognition " Recently in England, hoax callers and persons making "nuisance" 'phone calls have been charged with causing grievous bodily harm in a rare use of the law on assault to cover psychological rather than physical injury. Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is a misdemeanour in Ireland punishable on indictment pursuant to section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861 or summarily (sections 42 - 46, Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Criminal Justice Act 1951). There have been no prosecutions in Ireland in the context of nuisance calls under the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861. Many persons have been prosecuted successfully under the 1951 Act. Some examples of telephonic

or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character, or uses the telecommunications system of

Telecom Eireann for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another, or sends a message which a person knows to be

There are civil remedies available and these will be covered in a subsequent note.