Man found not guilty of attempted murder no longer suffering from mental disorder

Neil O’Dowd (35) stabbed former employer 19 times but was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity

A 35-year-old man who was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity after stabbing his former employer 19 times is not currently suffering from a mental disorder and does not require inpatient treatment at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH), a court has been told.

The Central Criminal Court previously heard that Neil O’Dowd was increasingly paranoid in the weeks leading up to the attack and believed Covid was a conspiracy. He also thought his boss was responsible for the unsolved murder of Michaela McAreavey in Mauritius and had brought a Mauritian chef who worked in the pub over to Ireland to cover up the crime.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Servaise Winkel told the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday that in her view Mr O’Dowd did not require inpatient treatment at the CMH at present as there were currently no symptoms of a mental disorder.

Dr Stephen Monks, a consultant forensic psychiatrist engaged by the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court that he took no issue with Dr Winkel’s view.

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No further order was made by the Central Criminal Court.

Mr O’Dowd, of Tuscany Park, Baldoyle, was charged with the attempted murder of Paul Smith at the Elphin pub on the Baldoyle Road in Sutton on January 28th, 2021. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was also charged with assault causing harm and the production of knives during a dispute inside and outside the Elphin pub on the same date.

His trial heard that Mr Smith, the manager of the pub, was stabbed repeatedly with three different knives, had glasses smashed over his head and was beaten with a mop handle.

The court heard a total of 19 stab wounds were inflicted on Mr Smith and, following the incident, he suffered a pseudoaneurysm in the artery of his heart which required surgery and a stent.

Mr Smith told Garda that he had been standing in the middle of the lounge when Neil O’Dowd entered and began asking him questions like why he [Mr Smith] had gone to Mauritius on honeymoon. A detective garda gave evidence that Mr Smith had not gone to Mauritius on his honeymoon.

Mr Smith told gardaí he then went to attend to a customer and as he went to the cash desk he noticed a large knife in Mr O’Dowd’s hand. He said that when he asked Mr O’Dowd what he was doing, the accused said: “You killed that girl in Mauritius,” before swinging the knife and stabbing him repeatedly.

Another employee attempted to intervene and the knife was knocked from the accused’s hands. Mr O’Dowd then proceeded to smash glasses over Mr Smith’s head, the court heard.

The disturbance moved out to the car park but Mr O’Dowd stepped back into the pub where he picked up two steak knives. He returned to the car park with a knife in each hand and proceeded to stab Mr Smith repeatedly. Mr Smith tried to protect himself with his hands but Mr O’Dowd continued to stab him repeatedly until the knives broke.

The court heard that in his statement to gardaí, Mr Smith spoke “incredibly sensitively” about Mr O’Dowd and had described him as “a good aul mate”.

Dr Monks told counsel for the prosecution, Fiona Murphy SC, that Mr O’Dowd was “labouring under the belief that the victim was involved in an unsolved murder and cover-up”.

Dr Monks said that because of the severe impairment of Mr O’Dowd’s judgment, he should be found not guilty of the charge by reason of insanity.

The jury also heard from Dr Paul O’Connell, a forensic consultant psychologist based at the CMH, who told Ms Murphy that the symptoms displayed by the accused were those of a mental illness consistent with paranoid schizophrenia.

He said it was his opinion that Mr O’Dowd was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time and it would be appropriate that a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity be considered by the jury.

Before the jury began their deliberations, trial judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott told them: “As a matter of law, I cannot tell juries what to do but I am allowed to give a strong view, and it would be remiss of me if I did not say that the overwhelming evidence is that he was suffering from a mental disorder and did not know what he was doing was wrong, nor was he able to refrain from committing the acts.”

The jury deliberated for 28 minutes before returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

After the verdict was given and the jury discharged by Mr Justice McDermott, counsel for the prosecution, Marc Thompson BL, said the defence had a short letter from a doctor saying that Mr O’Dowd has psychotic depression and is on medication, but he does not require inpatient care.

He said it would be best for a report to be prepared assessing if Mr O’Dowd currently fills the criteria for a mental health disorder before the court considered making a committal order.

Counsel for the defence, Nicola Cox BL said she mirrored the prosecution’s remarks. She said Mr O’Dowd had been on bail with strict conditions to engage with his mental health team and there had been no adverse issues. She said it appeared that Mr O’Dowd was not labouring under a mental disorder at the current time.

Mr Justice McDermott said the court had to have some evidence that there was an issue in relation to a mental disorder, and he put the matter back to hear evidence as to Mr O’Dowd’s prognosis and his current regime of treatment.