The trial of former hospital consultant Mr Michael Shine yesterday heard that he had rejected "absolutely" any allegation of indecent assault when interviewed by gardaí.
On the fifth day of his trial on 11 charges of indecent assault, the jury at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court heard that when gardaí put the substance of the first two complaints to him he had denied the allegations of sexual abusing the then teenage boys.
The 11 offences on six boys aged between 14 and 17 are alleged to have taken place at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, and at his private consultation rooms on Fair Street, Drogheda, between 1974 and 1982. Garda Supt Pat O'Boyle, Drogheda, now retired, said that in November 1994 and May 1995 he visited Mr Shine at his rooms on Fair Street.
On the first occasion he was accompanied by Garda Supt Michael Staunton and read out parts of the statements of complaint of Mr A and Mr B to him.
He said Mr Shine was cautioned and made a statement in which he said "this thing can of course happen when you are examining a patient".
He said that he never examined a person under 17 or 18 without their parents' present and in the hospital a nurse would be present. When asked if had sexually abused a complainant, he replied that if a person required a circumcision, he may have pulled on the skin of the penis.
During the first interview, when asked if there was any justification for the complaints and allegations, Supt Staunton said Mr Shine had thought for a while and said, "I don't know." He also told the gardaí he received an anonymous letter 10 years earlier in which it was alleged he had misbehaved.
In the second interview with Supt O'Boyle he had rejected "absolutely" the allegation that he had sexually abused or inappropriately touched Mr B.
In further interviews he denied any and all allegations. The court also heard that Supt O'Boyle got a medical opinion from a consultant urologist in relation to Mr B and he had found that the examinations of Mr B had been proper in relation to his condition.
The court heard that at the time of the complaints Mr Sine had been a consultant surgeon in the Lourdes for 30 years, was a dean of medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons and a member of the North Eastern Health Board.
The last two complainants, Mr E and Mr F, gave evidence yesterday. The trial is continuing.