A man with “text book” paranoid schizophrenia has been found not guilty of killing his uncle in a “frenzied” axe attack by reason of insanity at the Central Criminal Court.
A jury of six men and six women took just under three hours to find Henry McLaren (34) of Edenmore Drive, Raheny not guilty of murdering his uncle, Thomas Demspey at Edenmore Drive on February 10th 2007.
The jury heard from three consultant psychiatrists who all agreed that Mr McLaren was suffering from severe delusions at the time of the killing and his actions were a direct result of his illness.
Dr Paul O'Connell told Mr Erwin Mil Arden SC, defending, said Mr McLaren's had a family history of schizophrenia with his uncle, the deceased, receiving treatment for the illness many years before.
He said that Mr McLaren still held some of the delusions that had been material to his attacking his uncle and had only partially responded to treatment.
At the time of the killing Mr McLaren thought that Jimmy Hendrix had told him his uncle was the devil. He thought that his uncle wanted to die and boxer Jack Dempsey had been speaking through his uncle's mouth and had
wanted to kill him.
Mr Justice Barry White thanked the jury for their careful attention and excused them for further jury service for life. He ordered that Mr McLaren be committed to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.