Man who killed elderly mother remanded to Central Mental Hospital

A 63-year-old man found not guilty of the murder of his elderly mother by reason of insanity has been remanded to the Central Mental Hospital pending a psychiatric report.

At the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, counsel for Brendan Murray (63) of Kincora Court, Clontarf, Dublin 3, said that the psychiatric report may be available on December 28th.

Padraig Dwyer SC said that his client had been remanded to the hospital the previous day and the court could extend the period of committal not to exceed six months.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said that the court should not retain jurisdiction in the matter without due cause and directed that Mr Murray be detained at the hospital until December 28th.

Live like a lord: Wicklow estate that featured in The Tudors and Matt Damon film for €8m

---

An Irishwoman sailing around the world: ‘Only when I’m back in Dublin I notice how I’ve changed’

---

Table 45 review: Bar off Merrion Square transformed into new tapas restaurant full of home-made warmth

---

Sleep and rest are not the same and failure to address both can increase risk of burnout

---

The jury in the trial of Mr Murray heard that the accused told gardaí he had been told by the Holy Spirit to punch and choke his mother Neasa Murray (88), before he alleged that he sexually assaulted her. The Central Criminal Court heard that there was no evidence of a sexual assault on the victim.

A postmortem revealed the cause of Ms Murray’s death to be asphyxia due to mechanical obstruction of the airway and blunt force trauma to the head.

Mr Murray pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder at Kincora Court on August 23rd, 2020.

The trial heard evidence from Det Garda David Ennis that Mr Murray told gardaí: “I had to do it, I had no choice, God made me do it. I was in the special forces. I have Lyme disease.”

Forensic consultant psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright told the jury that Mr Murray’s mental disorder meant that he did not know that what he was doing was wrong when he killed his mother.

Prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC told the jury that there was no dispute that Mr Murray had schizoaffective disorder and was not in a position to understand that what he was doing was wrong.

She said that the killing was “brutal and violent” and that the deceased was a “fit woman in fine health, capable and able and living a happy life”. She loved her children and grandchildren and her loss is “devastating for her family and her community”. But counsel told the jury that they must decide the appropriate verdict in accordance with the evidence.

The jury found him not guilty of his mother’s murder by reason of insanity.