A man accused of keeping his dead father in a freezer in the family home has been remanded in custody.
John Garrett O’Sullivan (55) appeared before a judge at Derry Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with attempting to prevent the lawful burial of his father, 86-year-old Noel O’Sullivan.
The court heard that the pensioner’s remains were found in the livingroom of a house on the Culmore Road in Derry wrapped in plastic sheeting and a duvet.
His head was placed inside an open fridge freezer while the rest of his body lay on the floor beside the open door of another freezer.
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Deputy district judge Philip Mateer remanded John O’Sullivan in custody as he expressed concerns about his mental state. The accused, an unemployed man with a PhD in electrical engineering, appeared via video-link from a police custody suite.
John O’Sullivan, who lived at the family home on Culmore Road with his father, albeit at times residing in the garage, spoke briefly at the outset of the hearing to confirm his date of birth and that he understood the charge facing him.
He is accused of attempting to prevent the lawful and decent burial of his father on dates between July 1st and July 17th.
Outlining the circumstances of the case, a detective constable told the court that officers received a report from one of Noel O’Sullivan’s daughters last Wednesday expressing concern that she was unable to contact her father or gain entry to the house.
John O’Sullivan was arrested later that day while walking on the Culmore Road toward the house. He was initially detained on suspicion of murder but was later rearrested on a charge of attempting to prevent a lawful burial. The court heard that the results of a postmortem on Noel O’Sullivan had been “inconclusive”.
The court was told that the daughter who contacted police last week normally lives in Brussels and last spoke to her father on July 1st. The judge was told she had difficulty accessing the home on previous occasions and had been in touch with police raising concerns about her father.
Police subsequently sent safeguarding referrals to social services in regard to the living conditions and the ability of Noel O’Sullivan to look after himself. The court heard his widow has dementia and is residing in a nursing home.
The officer told the judge that social services called at the house on July 10th in relation to Mrs O’Sullivan but had been unable to gain entry.
The detective constable said John O’Sullivan gave an account to officers that he had found his father drinking and “ranting and raving” in the livingroom of the house in the early hours of July 7th. He claimed that his father was, at times, having difficulty breathing but was also being abusive toward him.
He said he left the room due to the abuse being directed at him and went to bed and, when he returned in the late afternoon that day, he found his father dead.
“On the death of his father, he described that he did not contact the authorities as it was a bank holiday weekend,” said the officer.
“He stated he did research as to what the procedure for sudden death was and, in the meantime, he refrigerated his father, as this is what Altnagelivn (the hospital in Derry) would do. He felt there was no point in ringing a GP as he was dead, and he confirmed that he did not tell anyone else of the death of his father.”
The officer told the court that John O’Sullivan later told a police custody nurse that his father died on July 8th following a “collapse episode”.
The officer objected to bail on the grounds of the accused having no suitable address to reside in and that he could flee the jurisdiction to Co Donegal.
A defence solicitor said he had raised concerns that, upon arrest, his client should have been held in a hospital setting rather than a custodial one. He acknowledged there was not a suitable bail address but suggested the judge should consider releasing him from custody if one could be agreed with police.
The judge said it was “distressing case for the family” and “an unusual case for the court to deal with”.
John O’Sullivan was remanded into custody to appear before the same court, via video-link, on August 15th. – PA