Woman jailed for making false sexual assault allegation against prison officer
Fiona Ferguson
A woman who made a false allegation that she had been sexually assaulted by a prison officer escorting her on a hospital visit has been jailed for 21 months.
Nicole Chambers (29) alleged the prison officer had assaulted her in a hospital cubicle.
CCTV from the hospital showed the male prison officer had never entered Chambers’ cubicle and remained outside as is protocol. His female colleague on the escort and medical staff also verified that he had been outside the cubicle the entire time.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Chambers has a complex psychiatric background and is currently in a wheelchair due to a functional neurological disorder. There is no service or facility in Ireland which can address her complex needs. Her defence counsel told the court there are no suitable services available in Ireland to assist her.
Chambers of Snee, Carragh, Coolaney, Sligo, pleaded guilty to making a false criminal complaint on August 15th, 2020. She has 34 previous convictions and previously served a one-and-a-half-year sentence for making false reports imposed in 2021.
After hearing evidence in the case last month, Judge Martin Nolan had adjourned the case overnight to consider his sentence. He said these were serious allegations which had a profound effect on the victim, and had there not been a camera, he may have ended up on trial.
He noted she had a background of making false allegations and had served a custodial sentence, but it appeared the punitive nature of that had not addressed her issues.
When the case was called later that week, counsel for Chambers told the court she was not present and asked the court to adjourn the case to the following Monday.
A bench warrant was later issued after Chambers failed to appear on that date. That warrant was executed on Wednesday before Judge Nolan.
Judge Nolan said that Chambers’ allegation was “malicious and self-serving”. “It was a terrible allegation to make. I hope she is sorry for what she did,” he said.
He accepted that she had a complicated history and “certainly has a lot of challenges”.
“She has endured a lot of trauma and distress,” he said.
“But I have no doubt that she knows the difference between right and wrong and knew the allegation should cause him difficulty. Thankfully, the footage proved that he had done no wrong,” Judge Nolan continued, before he jailed Chambers for 21 months.
Jennifer Jackson BL, defending, handed in reports and letters for the Judge to consider, which were not read in open court. She outlined Chambers has mental health issues, including an unstable personality disorder, and has self-harmed and self-mutilated. She has a functional neurological disorder and is currently in a wheelchair, as she has an inability to walk due to this disorder.
Ms Jackson said it appeared that there was no service or facility in Ireland which was able to address Chambers' complex needs at present. She has had multiple psychiatric admissions.
She said Chambers is currently living in Sligo under the care of a multidisciplinary team and appears to be doing well. She has a support worker and is attending therapy. Counsel said Chambers has written a letter of apology and greatly regrets her actions.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can freephone the Samaritans 24 hours a day for confidential support at 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.
Alternatively, the contact information for a range of mental health supports is available at mentalhealthireland.ie/get-support.
In the case of an emergency, or if you or someone you know is at risk of suicide or self-harm, dial 999/112.
