A 32-year-old man who posed as a doctor and recklessly endangered the life of his fiancée has been sentenced to six years in prison. Michael Ward from Clash Road, Little Island, Cork, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty last week.
The court heard his 38-year-old victim testify in a Dublin court that Ward had deceived, manipulated and betrayed her. But he also put her life in danger when he took over the clinical management of her illness.
A judge commended the courage of the woman who asked that Ward be named and identified to ensure that nothing like this happened to someone's daughter or sister. Ward's fiancee had been advised by an Irish women's health clinic to go to hospital for treatment.
But Ward told her "they haven't a clue" and he, without any medical qualifications, prescribed her antibiotics and dosed her with compounds. He carried out procedures on her in their Dublin flat where she had to lie still for three hours on the floor while he claimed to anaesthetise her, give her injections and treat her.
He subsequently said she was cured, but within weeks she was diagnosed with a tumour that had to removed within a week. The tumour carried a substantial risk of death and the delay in her treatment caused her serious harm. She remains gravely ill.
Mr Justice Peter Charlton told Dublin's Central Criminal Court that this was "a very serious case of reckless endangerment" and he sentenced Ward to six years in prison, suspending the last year.
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