A journalist walked free from Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today after Judge Desmond Hogan directed the jury to find her not guilty of forging pharmaceutical prescriptions.
Ms Naomi McElroy (27) of Grove Park Drive, Glasnevin, a Sunday Mirror journalist, pleaded not guilty to five charges of forging prescriptions and presenting them to north Dublin pharmacies on July 29th, 2004.
Ms McElroy had handed the medication obtained from pharmacies using the forged prescriptions to gardai, advising them that she had do so as part of research for an article.
Judge Hogan directed the "not guilty" verdicts on all ten charges following legal submission from her defence barrister, Mr Paul Burns SC.
Judge Hogan said he agreed with Mr Burns' that the charges should be dropped as the prescription pads which Ms McElroy had signed with a "squiggle" did not carry any registered practitioner's name and she was therefore not purporting to be a registered practitioner.
Mr Burns had submitted that the law stated that it was not enough to simply write down the drugs on the prescription but there had to be something purporting to be the signature of a registered practitioner in order for the prescription to be considered a forgery.
He recalled that Ms McElroy told gardai that she had signed each prescription with a "squiggle", but that it was not any particular signature. He said therefore she was not purporting to be any particular person and was not forging any person's signature.
Judge Hogan refused Mr Burns application for legal costs for Ms McElroy on the grounds that an accused person who was acquitted should be awarded their costs against the State.