The tragic case of Mary Collins raises questions about psychiatric care in the community, writes Paul Cullen.
The Health Service Executive Western Area has declined to comment on the case of Mary Collins, who went into the sea with her two children less than three months after being released from psychiatric care.
Collins, who was yesterday found guilty but insane in the murder of her son and the attempted murder of her daughter, first came to the attention of the health services in Westport in 1993, when she took an overdose six weeks after her marriage.
In April 2002, she was admitted to Mayo General Hospital in an acute psychotic state. After 10 days, she was discharged but was readmitted a day later after drinking washing-up liquid. On May 9th, she was released on continuing medication.
On July 29th, a local plumber, John Walsh, was working on his boat at Westport quay when he heard the cries of Collins's two children in the water.
Mr Walsh steered his dinghy to the children, an 11-month-old boy and a three-year-old girl, just as three members of a soccer team, Mary Gill, Helen Mulhall and Ann Heraty, swam to their aid.
Between them, they rescued the pair and Collins, who was face down in the water.
The four rescuers later received gallantry awards for their efforts, but the boy, Liam, was to die six months later of complications caused by his time in the water.
At first, the tragedy looked like a terrible accident. Collins told gardaí she had been very depressed and ill. She said she went to the sea wall with her children and her daughter saw a boat out in the water and wanted to look at it. She moved closer to the edge of the water when the back wheel of the pram came off and it toppled into the water. She said she could not swim but she jumped into the water in an attempt to save her children.
However, gardaí were suspicious and in a later statement, Collins admitted pushing the buggy into the sea.
"It wasn't an accident, I'm afraid I panicked," she said. "I kept trying to drown myself face down in the water. I told myself we were all going to heaven."
She detailed a long history of domestic violence at the hands of her husband, Paddy Collins.
She had married him at the age of 18 and told gardaí of a number of incidents in which he had beaten her with his fists, a poker and a hammer.
Collins told gardaí she was first beaten by her husband within weeks of getting married in December 1992. She took an overdose of painkiller tablets and was taken to intensive care.
She was also badly beaten at various stages when she was pregnant with the couple's five children and described her husband as a "truly violent man".
On one occasion, she said, he punched her straight into the face "just because the baby was crying". Gardaí and hospital staff had tried to persuade her to bring him to court but she said she was frightened.
On another occasion she had stabbed him in the back with a knife, and left him for some time before they reunited. She said it was part of Traveller culture to be beaten by her husband.
Director of the Central Mental Hospital Dr Harry Kennedy told her trial that Collins was suffering from the "most severe" of mental illnesses.
For the defence, Dr Conor O'Neill, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital, said Collins was on anti-psychotic, anti-depressant and sleeping medication.
He agreed she had been suffering from "schizophrenic affective disorder" at the time, which could bring on hallucinations and mood symptoms including depression and sometimes elation.
The case is likely to reignite controversy over "guilty but insane" verdicts. As Justice Paul Carney told the jury, the verdict they returned was equivalent to an acquittal, with Collins being held at the Central Mental Hospital, where her case will be periodically reviewed.
A Bill which would amend such charges from "guilty but insane" to "not guilty by reason of insanity" is before the Dáil.