Man accused of killing elderly brothers had ‘three mental disorders’

A psychiatrist has told a murder trial that the accused had three mental disorders when he attacked two elderly brothers in their Co Mayo home and that the conditions diminished his responsibility.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Pawan Rajpal was giving evidence for the defence on Tuesday in the Central Criminal Court trial of Alan Cawley (30).

Mr Cawley, of Four Winds, Corrinbla, Ballina, Co Mayo, has admitted killing Thomas Blaine (69) and John (Jack) Blaine (76) but he has pleaded not guilty to murdering them on July 10th, 2013, at New Antrim Street in Castlebar.

Dr Rajpal told Caroline Biggs SC, defending, that he studied the accused man’s medical records going back to his childhood, interviewed him and also his parents.

He noted that the Cawleys had described his behaviour changing at about four to six months of age, following vaccination. They recalled lots of screaming and that he did not like physical touch. They said he started banging his head at one year and, by age two, was crying so much that he had to be sedated by a GP.

Between the ages of five and 12 years he was setting fires and attracting frequent complaints from neighbours about cruelty to animals.

He noted from the defendant’s medical records that he had first seen a psychologist at the age of four and had been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at 11. He had spent six months in hospital at that time.

He noted that Mr Cawley had later also been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder.

Impulse control

Dr Rajpal was satisfied that Mr Cawley was suffering from all three diagnoses at the time of the offences. “He’s less able than people who don’t have these diagnoses to control impulses, less able to learn from past mistakes,” he said.

He said that all were classified as mental disorders in the two main international manuals used by psychiatrists. He said that he was also satisfied that all three were mental disorders and diseases of the mind under the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006.

The trial earlier heard that blood on a ceiling and walls indicated that one brother was on his bed and the other was lying on the ground when assaulted.

Dr Alan McGee, of Forensic Science Ireland, testified that he visited the Blaine home on the day of the killing.

The forensic scientist told Tony McGillicuddy SC, prosecuting, that Tom Blaine’s body was lying face-up on a bedroom floor, with his legs on a heavily-bloodstained bed. As well as pools of blood in the room, there was blood on all four walls and on the ceiling.

He noted that Jack Blaine was found lying face-up on the ground in the back yard. There was a rusted shovel head next to his head, with a black walking stick and a heavily bloodstained wooden handle lying beside his body.

He found DNA profiles matching both brothers’ on the bloodstained end of the wooden handle.

The trial continues.