Psychiatrist believes Carthy was 'oblivious to danger'

Barr Tribunal: Mr John Carthy would have been "oblivious to the danger" of leaving his house carrying a loaded shotgun the day he was killed by gardaí, a psychiatrist has told the Barr tribunal.

Dr John Sheehan, a consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Hospital in Dublin who was not Mr Carthy's psychiatrist, said Mr Carthy was "clearly suffering from a manic episode", which would have left him unaware of the danger of his situation and led him to behave in a reckless way.

Mr Carthy had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, some eight years before his death. The condition is characterised by periods of depression and periods of mania or elation. Mr Carthy was showing the "typical and classic signs" of the manic phase of his illness in the hours leading up to his death, Dr Sheehan said.

The description of Mr Carthy's behaviour given by the Garda negotiator, Det Sgt Michael Jackson, was consistent with this diagnosis, Dr Sheehan said.

Mr Carthy had spoken "very fast and was barely coherent", he was "hyperactive" and grandiose calling for "the best" solicitor to be brought to him, Det Sgt Jackson had said.

Mr Carthy had been in this elated phase since his arrest in Galway under the Mental Treatment Act in February (some weeks earlier), Dr Sheehan said. "His elation had continued and had become much worse by the 19th of April."

At this stage Mr Carthy had lost any insight into his illness and did not perceive himself to be unwell and in need of care.

"When a person is manic they have an enhanced sense of power. They don't take into consideration the dangers that are there. He walked out of his house oblivious to the fact that he might be immediately shot."

Mr Carthy's psychiatrist, Dr David Shanley, was unlikely to have been able to "talk him down" from his elation, Dr Sheehan said.

Within the previous two weeks, Mr Carthy had made an appointment to see Dr Shanley, scheduled for the day he died. Dr Sheehan said he believed Mr Carthy "had lost his insight by the 19th of April" and it was unlikely that Dr Shanley would have been able to talk him down.