A convicted brothel-keeper has been jailed for 18 months by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for the false imprisonment and assault of a baby-sitter she had accused of stealing £1,200.
Karen Leahy (32), St Patrick's Park, Clondalkin, a mother of five, had been on bail since July 4th when she was found guilty by a jury.
Judge Yvonne Murphy suspended nine months of the sentence, taking into account the defendant's medical history of depression, eating disorders and stress-related illnesses. Judge Murphy said the appropriate sentence was 18 months but she was taking into account an offer of €10,000 to Ms Godkin as compensation, Leahy's five children and her medical history.
Leahy's co-accused, Liza Brophy (33), Hartstown, Dublin, was also found guilty of falsely imprisoning the baby-sitter and was sentenced to three months imprisonment on July 10th last.
Both women had been convicted of falsely imprisoning Ms Charlotte Godkin who had been baby-sitting for Leahy at Sunbury Gardens, Dartry, Dublin, in December 1998. Leahy was also convicted of having assaulted Ms Godkin and pleaded guilty to criminal damage to Ms Godkin's clothes.
Judge Murphy said Leahy and Brophy had tried during their trial to label Ms Godkin as a thief and a liar but were not believed by the jury.
Leahy received an 18-month suspended sentence and a £6,500 fine last October when she pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to keeping a brothel between September 17th and September 22nd, 1999. The court heard on that occasion that the brothel was advertised under the name Penthouse Pets and was run at the Winter Garden Apartments on Pearse Street.
Leahy and a co-accused were present along with one male client and four other women when gardaí searched the apartment on September 22nd, 1999.