Noel Wynne won’t face trial over alleged child sexual abuse at St John Ambulance

Senator Tom Clonan has named Noel Wynne – of Drimnagh, Dublin – as the man who won’t face criminal proceedings over allegations of child sexual abuse at St John Ambulance.

“On last Tuesday, 6 October, the group of survivors was told in the Central Criminal Court that no criminal proceedings would issue in the case of Noel Wynne, that he would face no criminal investigation. This is an absolute scandal,” said Clonan yesterday in the Seanad.

Clonan said survivors had brought “case after case” against St John Ambulance and co-defendants, including Wynne and John Hughes, for more than 20 years. He said those civil cases, running from 2003 to 2023, are publicly visible on the Courts Service’s online portal.

He said a friend of his, child sexual abuse survivor Mick Finnegan, reported abuse by a senior St John Ambulance officer to gardaí in 1999. Tusla later found the complaint founded, Clonan told senators, but no prosecution followed.

Clonan said the Seanad had already voted for a public inquiry into sexual abuse in St John Ambulance and called on the government to progress it.

“Dr Geoffrey Shannon's report shows that St John Ambulance was a place that facilitated the grooming of children and vulnerable young adults,” he said.

“I would say to the survivors of the St. John Ambulance Ireland abuse, notwithstanding a failure to criminally prosecute Noel Wynne: you do not have to carry the burden of this appalling injustice any more,” added Clonan.