A LAW graduate who duped his gravely ill fiancee into believing he was a doctor has been sentenced to six years in jail.
The actions of Michael Ward (32) from Clash Road, Little Island, Co Cork, meant that critical cancer treatment for the now 38-year-old woman was delayed for nearly three months.
Ward was sentenced to six years for reckless endangerment and three years for assault causing harm to run concurrently with the last year suspended on condition that Ward be of good behaviour.
Ward initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed his plea after his fiancee, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence. The deceit happened between August and October 2006 when the woman found out that he was not a doctor but a second-year law student.
In a victim impact statement, she said Ward had only pleaded guilty when all hope of acquittal was gone, four days into the trial and three years on from the initial deception.
She asked that his name be published and his photograph put in the newspapers as a warning to other women who might be duped in the future.
Gardaí have said there are a number of investigations being carried out into other possible deceptions by Ward.
The pair met in the summer of 2006 when she was suffering from an undiagnosed medical condition. He claimed to be Dr Michael O'Brien who was working at the Mater hospital and concocted an elaborate pattern of deception where he took blood and urine samples from her for "analysis".
A Well Woman clinic had advised Ward's fiancee to go to hospital because she was in pain and having discharges, but Ward told her that the clinic "hadn't a clue" and said he would treat her himself.
The couple had an intense relationship which resulted in a short engagement. He carried out two invasive procedures on her, inserting a syringe into her vagina in October 2006.
She became suspicious of him when he presented her with lingerie and a pair of boots which she later discovered had been purchased with her own laser card.
She was told by the Mater hospital that he did not work there and staff complained to gardaí.
The woman was immediately referred to accident and emergency where it was discovered that she had a cancerous tumour in her bladder area.
Sentencing Ward, Mr Justice Peter Charleton cited the victim impact statement and said he too was unimpressed by Ward's initial not guilty plea which forced his victim to testify.
Mr Justice Charleton said he accepted that Ward had not intentionally set out to harm his ex-fiancee, but he, nevertheless, had recklessly endangered her life.
He said the deception was on the "higher end of the scale" and it was hard to think of a "worse case of betrayal".
Mr Justice Charleton accepted the statement by Ward's counsel Patrick MacEntee SC who said Ward was a "seriously conflicted" man who had some goodness in him, but also had problems dealing with reality.
Mr MacEntee read a letter from Ward's mother who described him as a "model son" who had taken on a father-like role to his nephew. "I love my son. I always will," she said.
