A 41-year-old man who strangled his brother to death with a bungee cord and was found not guilty of his murder by reason of insanity, has been committed to the Central Mental Hospital.
Declan O'Cualain, with an address at An Caoran Beag, An Cheathru Rua, Co Galway was charged with murdering his brother Adrian Folan (O'Cualain) at Lislorkin North, Liscannor, Co Clare on July 4th, 2014.
Mr O'Cualain pleaded not guilty last month at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Mr Folan by reason of insanity.
The trial heard from prosecution counsel Anthony Sammon SC that the accused became "fixated with paedophilia" and held a baseless delusion that his brother was "afflicted with this difficulty and he may have sexually abused a sibling".
Mr Sammon said the accused was in “an utterly delusional state of mind” at the time and the delusions were “not to be given any weight whatsoever”.
Two consultant forensic psychiatrists gave evidence that Mr O’Cualain should not be held responsible for his actions and he met the requirements for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Not guilty
On April 22nd, after just 21 minutes deliberating, a jury returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan committed Mr O'Cualain to go to the Central Mental Hospital after the verdict and he returned to court on Thursday.
Prosecution counsel Marie Torrens BL called Dr Sally Linehan, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the hospital, who had prepared a report for the assistance of the court in relation to Mr O'Cualain.
Dr Linehan told the court Mr O’Cualain was admitted to the hospital in December 2014 and put under her care in February 2015. The court heard that since being admitted, his insight into his illness has improved. He is on anti-psychotic and mood stabilising medication.
In a recent assessment, Dr Linehan said the accused became tearful when he spoke about his deceased brother but there was no evidence of delusions.
“In my opinion he suffers from a bipolar defective disorder which is a mental illness. This affects his thinking and seriously impairs the mental function of a person,” she said.
Dr Linehan recommended to the court that her patient be committed to the CMH and she confirmed that there was a bed available for him there.
The prosecution counsel then handed a letter to the court, to be placed on the court file, on behalf of the O’Cualain family.
Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan told the court she had heard the evidence from Dr Sally Linehan and was satisfied that the accused was found not guilty by reason of insanity.