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A ROSCOMMON MAN who stabbed his mother to death over four years ago has been found not guilty of her murder by reason of insanity.
Paul Henry (29) with an address at Ardsallagh, Athlone Road, Roscommon was charged with murdering his mother Ann Henry at Abbeystown, Ballyphesan in Roscommon town on September 17 2011.
On Monday at the Central Criminal Court Mr Henry pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Henry by reason of insanity.
At the beginning of the trial defence counsel Colm Smyth SC told the jury of eight men and four women that his client admitted he killed his mother.
During the trial Smyth called consultant psychiatrist Professor Tom Fahey to give evidence and he told the court Mr Henry suffers from a psychotic disorder which he called “delusional disorder”.
The court heard in Professor Fahey’s opinion Paul Henry was “unable to refrain from committing the act” and this “propelled him” to acting in the way in which he said he did.
Yesterday prosecution counsel Caroline Biggs SC called forensic psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright to give evidence and she diagnosed Paul Henry with “paranoid schizophrenia”.
Dr Wright said at the time Mr Henry did not have the capacity to form intent because of his mental disorder.
Unanimous verdict
The jury spent one hour 36 minutes deliberating before bringing in a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.
After they had delivered their verdict, Mr Justice Tony Hunt thanked the 12 jurors for their service and the “painstaking approach they took”.
Mr Justice Hunt then addressed the jury saying:
You decided the verdict with great care and detail. It’s a legally correct verdict on the evidence and a humane verdict. Mr Henry is a very unwell man and it would be inhumane to treat him as a criminal. I think it is 100% likely he will committed to a place where he will be safe.
The judge then said that jury service is essential and he is always impressed by “the serious and considered approach juries take.”
“You have to react in a cold way when dealing with hot issues,” he said.
Mr Justice Hunt exempted them from jury service for six years.
The judge then ordered that Mr Henry be detained in the Central Mental Hospital and put in the matter for tomorrow morning at 10.30am.
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Oh great.. Now let’s get a gas guzzling tow truck to come out and start up the compressor to reinflate the tyres..
@The Divils Avocado: why would you call a tow truck? Just use the compressor that’s supplied with the vehicle to re inflate the tyres?
@A Kelly:
Most cars don’t have these, besides if you did you’re spending more time with the engine on inflating your Tyres. Dear oh dear.
@A Kelly: Devil’s a bit Dim
@iohanx: eh most cars do have these and my suggestion was not an attempt to save the planet! It’s simply the quickest most obvious solution for the owners of these cars to get their cars back on the road! DEAR!
The would want their heads deflating.. they are turning the public against them doing stunts like this and not gaining support. How would you react if you went to your car and some green fingerd bell end has deflated all your tyres ?
I’d hazard a safe guess and say the great unwashed unemployed let the air out of the tyres of the employed supporting them.
All grand but the cars could have been needed for an emergency
@Jonathan: Emergencies?
Are they ambulances ?
@ChronicAnxiety: you know what he meant…if you don’t climate change is the least of your worries…
@Damo: Cameron was late for his eloclution classes?
@Damo: pick your kid up from school who fell and smashed his teeth as my son did last week. Ambulances dont get called for that stuff
@andyearley: I’m guessing that you’re replying to the wrong person…
@ChronicAnxiety: Glasgow is well known for its elocution alright…
@andyearley: How did we manage without SUVs ?
Well that’s one way to win support for your cause……
They were only setting the air free. Air was not meant to be put in a rubbery cage
@Mike Murray: LOL
Dipsticks.
@Raymond Barry: They want for the tyres. Not the oil.
The gas thing in Ireland is that we have zero incentives for EV’s and zero infrastructure. EV’s here have massive govt duties on them. Our govt has been championing diesel for the last 15 years even though the most ot Europe recognised that diesel is a far worse polluter than petrol. The duty on petrol has gone so high that running a diesel car is cheaper. Now they’ve increased the duty on diesel. If you live outside a city in Ireland there is no alternative to a car. Most of our trains run on diesel even.
For any play to work we need good foundations. At the minute the decisions being made are with zero thought and are just contributing to making everything more expensive with no alternatives.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: and we certainly won’t have enough electric car mechanics in many more people switch over
@Ian James Burgess: People can train in new technologies, you know. Over the last century, car mechanics have had to learn about coils replacing magnetos, fuel injection replacing carbs, electronic ignition replacing points and the introduction of hydraulic power steering, then electric power steering, OBD, CAN-BUS, ABS, ESP. I think that they’ll manage.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: no incentives? Are you extracting the Dalry water or what? Grants, subsidies, low tax, no VRT, cheapest fuel with no excise duty ? And all paid for those if us NIT driving EV …
No need for the vast majority of these ‘Chelsea Tractors’.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: how do you know these SUV’s weren’t electric, or Hybrid ? This is is mindless vandalism and hopefully the perpetrators by dint of seeking publicity on this, will get identified and prosecuted.
@John Moylan: Even if they were electric, my comment is still true. There is no need for the vast majority of SUVs.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I use my 4×4 off-road for about 2% of its annual use. When I do use it off-road, there is literally no alternative available. When driving on-road I get between 28-30 mpg average and 33 mpg on a long run – I suspect that is better than a Mini would get in city traffic. I admit to enjoying its powerful Diesel engine for cruising, the high driving position, looking over hedges, and the feeling of security when driving in filthy weather. My car is already 12 years old and I plan to run it until it expires of old age and then replace it with a plug-in hybrid. If you want to criticise me for having a large carbon tyre-print, fair do’s, but in mitigation I don’t do foreign holidays or travel by plane more than twice a year, if even that.
@Patrick Brompton: 33 mpg on a long run??? Seriously, you think that’s good? I get more than double that on a long run in my 2013 plugin Prius, and 60 mpg in a suburban area, and that’s before I plug it in!
@Patrick Brompton: I’ve got a 10 year old 4×4, plan on running it into the ground as well, can’t believe for one minute that scrapping it for an electric would make any sense from a carbon footprint as the vast footprint of producing a new electric vehicle to be run on electricity that may well be sourced to a significant degree by fossil fuel generating power stations. In addition these early electric vehicles will be superseeded by vastly improved models or hydrogen tech within a few years so why do it now when the tech/sensible option is not yet realistic. However you need to look at your foreign travel, if everybody flew abroad twice a year in the west Cavan would have seaside property within a decade. Don’t get why were all being pushed (taxed) to go green to save the planet but its OK to danamage the planet if u can pay destroy it. Why don’t they give everybody a carbon allowance (like rationing during the war), then we wouldn’t have to be told what to do by those who do what they want and we could hit our targets that way.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: it’s not for you to decide what anyone else wants, or needs. This isn’t the USSR.
@Kevin Farrell: 33mog is great. I’m on 24mpg. #noregrets
Have they been to America? The chances of seeing a VW golf sized car here is about the same chance as getting free medical care. 5.7L V8 is a norm, poor Mrs Jones and her 2.5L 4WD Disco is a deckchair on the titanic…
@Shane McGivern: That “Someone else is polluting more than we are, so there’s no need for us to do anything” argument is wearing a bit thin, don’t you think?
@Type17: if Ireland went back to the Stone Age wouldn’t make a difference to the planet if India Russia China and Africa say we will burn and consume what we want
@Type17: not all. Its perfectly valid.
Roads? Where we’re going, we wont need roads!
@Anarch Eco: alright Marty Mcfly
Very mature.
Releasing rubberised air is terrible for the environment.
Defeating the purpose of what they are protesting about. Brain dead individuals
@Timothy Culligan: deflating the purpose…..
Pack of empty headed slogan chaser’s, its such a shame that it attracts such resentful and ungrateful types, such anti human, anti capitalist, anti wealth bandwagon enthusiasts.
Brainless individuals. “How to win friends and influence people “ NOT.
Jheez what a ‘face-plant’ idea.
These climate change zealots have lost the run of themselves and also revealed the type of people they are
@ChronicAnxiety: if you need to get your child to hospital and you call an ambulance and the ambulance says it will be 3-4 hours you put your child in the car and bring them . Not rocket science
Inflating street theatre and deflating public patience. Hot air causes global warming incidentally.
The amount of pearl clutching going on here because some rich people have been mildly inconvinced is a bit much.
Is The Army of the 12 Monkeys under investigation?
This is pure thuggary and how much extra energy is use to re inflate all these cars many hybrids as well as the inconvenience to the driver’s hope they get caught this is vandelism
That il learn em for buying nice things with the money they earned!
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