Woman who slit civil servant’s throat appeals conviction

A woman who slit a civil servant’s throat as she walked home from work in Dublin has appealed her conviction for attempted murder.

Laura Kenna (37), of no fixed abode, who was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity when she went on trial at the Central Criminal Court last year.

She has also appealed the 10-year jail term she was given after a jury found her guilty.

The trial heard that Fionnuala Bourke was attacked on Lower Drumcondra Road as she walked home from work on January 3rd, 2017.

Ms Bourke noticed a woman sitting on a wall outside a house. As she approached, Kenna sprung up and pushed her back onto a grassy area. Kenna did not say anything, but started to stab her.

Ms Bourke felt short stabs and could also feel her face being slashed, before she felt a dramatic slash straight across her neck. Kenna then spoke, telling Bourke that she would let her go if she handed over her handbag. Ms Bourke required surgery and spent time in an intensive care unit after the attack.

Kenna later admitted to gardaí­ that she had “sliced her like you would a goat”.

Ms Justice Tara Burns described the attack as vicious, random, horrifying and frightening.

“She is very lucky that she is still with us and doesn’t have more significant injuries,” she said of Ms Bourke.

Untreated condition

The judge said that it was clear that Kenna was suffering from a significant mental health condition at the time, which might have gone untreated for up to six years.The judge imposed a 15-year term of imprisonment on Kenna and suspended the last five years.

On Thursday, Kenna’s barrister, Barry White SC appealed his client’s conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal. He said he was asking the court to exercise an exceptional jurisdiction and rule the conviction unsafe.

He said that the chief evidence against his client, that of consultant psychiatrist Prof Harry Kennedy, was fundamentally flawed and inadequate. He reminded the court that Prof Kennedy had given contrasting evidence to the psychiatrist called by the defence, Dr Stephen Monks. Both psychiatrists were attached to the Central Mental Hospital.

Dr Monks had said Kenna was acting in response to delusional beliefs at the time, and qualified for the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

During the trial, Prof Kennedy testified that Kenna was not delusional at the time, but had carried out the attack in anger and out of a sense of entitlement, telling gardaí that she needed money.

Court of Appeal President Justice George Birmingham asked if it was not then a matter for the jury, having heard from both of them.

Mr White agreed that it was but noted that, when it came to sentence, there was one additional report before the court. This was from her treating psychiatrist, who concluded that Kenna had been acutely psychotic at the time of the assault.

“This conviction is unsafe,” he said.

Excessive sentence

Mr White also submitted that the sentence handed down was excessive and should be reduced.

“It seems to me that Ms Kenna is someone more to be pitied than punished,” he remarked. “That’s a personal view.”

Anthony Sammon SC responded on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“This was a case of conflicting psychiatric opinion,” he said. “The Oireachtas has given to the citizenry the power to make a decision in this area. It is expressly given to juries, not to judges.”

He said that Mr White had not jumped the very high bar necessary to set aside the jury’s verdict for reasons of perversity. He said there was nothing wrong with the way the sentence had been formulated.

Justice Birmingham, presiding with Justice Patrick McCarthy and Justice Isobel Kennedy, reserved judgment in the case.