A Roscommon man has successfully appealed his acquittal for the murder of his mother by reason of insanity and will face a retrial. The 29-year-old had been acquitted by jury at Castlebar in May 2014 following the death at Abbeystown in September 2011 and was committed to the Central Mental Hospital. He sought a retrial to enable him to plead guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, which would result in a determinate sentence rather than indefinite detention. The Court of Appeal found the trial judge had misdirected the jury regarding the burden of proof on the insanity verdict. The court determined the prosecution must prove insanity on the balance of probabilities, a matter which had not been clearly conveyed to jurors. Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with two colleagues, ordered the retrial. The court noted the two verdicts would carry significantly different practical consequences for the appellant and stated this appeared to be the first such case in Ireland.
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Original report plus public source leads and related archive reports used for review context.
Public source leads
- Not guilty verdict in Roscommon murder case - RTE.ie RTE.ie · Thu, 01 May 2014 07:00:00 GMT
- Roscommon death: Son charged with assault causing harm to his mother - Irish Independent Irish Independent · Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:00:00 GMT
- Man successfully appeals acquittal for murdering mother - The Irish Times The Irish Times · Fri, 01 May 2015 07:00:00 GMT
- Man who 'believed he was in the Matrix' found not guilty of girlfriend's murder by reason of insanity - Irish Examiner Irish Examiner · Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:00:00 GMT
- Man who killed mother committed to mental hospital - RTE.ie RTE.ie · Wed, 07 May 2014 07:00:00 GMT
- Mother stabbed to death by son "was prepared to sacrifice her own happiness" - The Journal The Journal · Tue, 16 Feb 2016 08:00:00 GMT
- Man acquitted of mother’s murder appeals acquittal - RTE.ie RTE.ie · Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:00:00 GMT
- ‘Sad case’ of son who stabbed his mother to death - Irish Examiner Irish Examiner · Thu, 23 Jul 2020 16:54:16 GMT
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