Judge ‘very concerned’ as young man who ate his own flesh seeks discharge from wardship

A young man exposed to violent pornography as a child, who was made a ward of court as a teenager after cutting and eating part of his flesh, and who, in more recent years, engaged in sadistic sexual acts, wants to be discharged from High Court wardship.

His case was the first in the court’s wardship list on Thursday following the coming into operation of the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act providing for discharging adult wards over the next three years.

High Court president Mr Justice David Barniville was “very concerned” about “very disturbing” revelations by the man, made earlier this week to a social worker, that he had accessed the dark web to learn how to say the appropriate things to professionals to achieve the outcomes he wants.

This called into question the conclusions of various professional reports of progress in the man’s condition, including from his treatment team in a secure UK unit where he spent several years before being returned here in recent months, the judge said.

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The man has expressed the wish to be discharged from wardship and for the court to lift orders which permit restrictions on him in a community unit where he and staff are the only residents and where he is monitored on a 24/7 basis. He has restricted access to sharp instruments and there is power to monitor his internet access given his propensity to access “extreme forms of visual imagery”.

The judge said a report from a psychiatrist was “ambiguous” whether the man met the capacity test for wardship but appeared to conclude he did not.

Having considered the evidence, and noting the man has yet to formally move an application for his discharge, the judge continued the orders keeping the man in the placement here and directed that reports be obtained from a forensic psychologist and psychiatrist.

In light of the new Act, which operates on the presumption of capacity, he said he would review the matter in three, rather than six, months.

Now in his early 20s, the man, who cannot be identified, was made a ward of court as a teenager arising from behaviours including cutting off a part of his body and eating it.

He received specialist treatment over years in a secure unit in the UK and, after he turned 18, was made an adult ward. He has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum and with a depressive disorder.

His case was before the court on Thursday via an application by David Leahy SC, for the HSE, for orders to continue the protective regime around him.

Counsel said that, during 2021, having not communicated previously, the man began speaking to staff in the UK unit and told them he was secretly mutilating his body, consuming his flesh and – during periods of leave from the unit – had engaged in sadistic sexual acts with a female partner and with sex workers.

The man this week told a social worker he took delight in making those disclosures and was accessing the dark web to know what to say to professionals, counsel said. He was “controlling disclosures” to achieve his own ends and that was important context for the court.

Following his transfer here, efforts were being made to support the man to live as independently as possible. He has engaged in exercise and education, and has said he wants to pursue a security course or work as a mortuary assistant due to a wish to spend time alone with dead people.

Counsel said the man wanted to spend independent time in the community, engage in online dating and to have the UK-based woman, with whom he has been involved in a sexually sadistic relationship, to visit. He has said he wants to drink more alcohol, because that makes it easier to approach women, and to come off antidepressants because they affect his sex drive.

The reports before the court were provided in a context acknowledging the progress he has made and his commitment in engaging in the treatment plan, counsel outlined.

On foot of two clinical interviews, the latest in mid-April, his treating psychiatrist here had found the man not of unsound mind, which called into question the High Court’s jurisdiction in the case, counsel said. The psychiatrist had said the man’s understanding of social mores was affected by his ASD and he had denied thoughts of harming himself or others.

The man has expressed interest in drinking alcohol, scarification (body modification by cutting/etching) and cannibalism, and has discussed his sexual relationships. The doctor believes the man has capacity in some respects, including to enter into sexual relationships and engage in scarification, but there are issues about other aspects of his capacity.

Counsel referred to a psychologist’s report, dated mid-March 2023, which noted, after the man began talk therapy in 2021, he spoke of the self-mutilation incident and of historic thoughts of killing others, especially his siblings, and a penchant for harmful online content such as snuff films, horror films and ones involving sexual assault, rape, cannibalism and violence. He discussed seeing violent sexual imagery at an early age and skinning parts of his flesh and eating it, which he described as cannibalism.

The man had said he had significant concerns he might act on those thoughts and expressed a wish to control conversations and behaviours.

The psychologist had reported his risks in those areas had reduced in line with his understanding. He said he was now indifferent to his siblings as opposed to wishing to harm them. The man has been described as a “very different” person now from when he first went into wardship, a person who speaks freely and openly and expresses his wishes.

Mr Leahy said both reports predated the man’s disclosure of “managing disclosures to his own end”. The HSE’s position was that forensic reports were urgently required, he said. The man’s capacity is something the court needs to consider “very closely” given his historic stated wishes to harm himself and others.

Paul Brady SC, for the general solicitor for wards of court, said the “key disclosure” was the man knew what to say to various professionals to get what he wanted and that “cast a cloud” over the other reports.

The man, who has been several years in a very structured regime, was asking not to be exposed to any restrictive court order and wanted his wardship ended, counsel said. The general solicitor would very much support a second opinion from forensic experts.