A woman who stabbed a total stranger to death during a psychotic episode bears “zero” moral culpability for the killing due to her mental condition, her barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
The court also heard on Monday that the State accepts that Christina Anderson was undergoing a psychotic episode at the time of the killing and cannabis intoxication “does not feature” in the case. During the trial, the jury heard that a central issue was whether Anderson’s actions when she repeatedly stabbed Gareth Kelly were driven by mental illness or by cannabis intoxication.
Michael O’Higgins SC on Monday said that while his client’s actions were horrendous, she was suffering delusions brought on by bipolar-affective disorder. Although she is legally culpable, Mr O’Higgins said her “moral responsibility could and should go to zero given the very acute mental illness under which she was labouring at the time”.
He asked Ms Justice Karen O’Connor to extend the “maximum leniency” available when sentencing Anderson for the crime of manslaughter, to which she pleaded guilty earlier this year. Counsel also read out a letter from Anderson in which she apologised for all the pain she had caused and described the victim as “an innocent man who did not deserve to die”. Ms Justice O’Connor will impose sentence on June 20th.
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Gareth Kelly (38) had never met Christina Anderson (41) and was trying to start his car outside her home in the early morning on his way to work when she approached him and stabbed him five times, fatally injuring him. At a sentencing hearing earlier this month Mr Kelly’s partner Maria Murphy described the deceased as a loving dad with a “cheeky smile” who was adored by his children.
Anderson of Kingswood, Dublin 22, stabbed Mr Kelly five times as he tried to start his car outside her home at about 7am on the morning of February 25th, 2020.
She was initially charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In January this year, more than one month into her trial, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) accepted a plea of guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to a mental disorder. The State accepted that Ms Anderson was experiencing a psychotic episode due to bipolar affective disorder but did not qualify for the full defence of a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act.
At today’s hearing Mr O’Higgins outlined what he said was evidence of the “complete destruction” of his client’s rational mind in the weeks and months before the stabbing. There was, he said, evidence that she had become paranoid and delusional regarding what she falsely believed to be a criminal conspiracy involving her neighbours, gardaí and senior politicians including Bertie Ahern. Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright diagnosed Anderson with bipolar affective disorder and gave the opinion that she was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of the killing. Dr Wright said Anderson falsely believed that Mr Kelly was a threat to her and her family and that by stabbing him she was protecting her family.
Mr O’Higgins said the actions of his client were “horrendous” but she was “very mentally ill” and in a “state of paranoia and persecution”. She bears some liability, he said, and that is accepted by her plea of guilty to manslaughter.
“In determining the appropriate punishment the mental element, or lack of mental element as it is in this case, has to be a huge factor in determining any punitive sentence the court is to mete out,” counsel said. He added: “The absence of a rational mind is a paramount factor in determining moral culpability.”
Mr O’Higgins cited legal authorities that he said show there is a distinction between moral and legal responsibility and in some cases involving mental illness “responsibility could be reduced to zero”.
Anderson’s is one such case, he said.
Her illness is so severe, Mr O’Higgins said, that more than three years after the stabbing Anderson remains in the Central Mental Hospital undergoing treatment. Mr O’Higgins also pointed to recent psychiatric reports which state that she is at low risk of reoffending.
He further asked the court to consider that Anderson has led a “blameless life”, never having come to the attention of gardaí before. She is a mother who worked for a living, ran her own businesses and kept a good home. She still has a relationship with her children and husband, Mr O’Higgins said, and will live with them when she is released.
He said his client wished to apologise. The devastating consequences of her actions had caused her great distress, he said.
In a letter written by Anderson, she said she wanted to “apologise from the bottom of my heart to Mr Kelly’s partner and family for all the pain I have caused. You may never forgive me but I want you to know I regret the killing and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
She said he did not deserve to die and she feels “ashamed and truly sorry for what I did”.
Pat McGrath SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that the killing is at the higher end for offences of manslaughter but in sentencing the judge must consider how much Ms Anderson’s culpability is reduced by her mental illness before setting a headline sentence.