MR BRENDAN O'Donnell made a "serious suicide attempt" by trying to strangle himself in the Central Mental Hospital after Imelda Riney appeared in his room crying, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
A consultant psychiatrist, Dr Brian McCaffrey, told the court Mr O'Donnell had told him he tried to strangle himself on Monday night, had fallen unconscious for a while and was later revived by a staff member at the hospital.
Dr McCaffrey said the defendant had told him he had been trying to kill himself since Friday last.
He had told the doctor he saw Imelda Riney in his room on Monday night about 10 or 11 p.m. and she was crying. He said he felt very depressed and very low in himself and suicidal and when he saw Imelda he wanted to join her. He said he was disappointed he had not died.
Asked where he would go if he killed himself, he said he would go to hell "to the devil, my master".
Mr O'Donnell had also said he would prefer not to be in court because he was finding his trial very stressful. He found it stressful to hear people talking about his life and was upset to hear evidence on Monday about his mother's attempted suicide. It was as if he was being tortured having to listen to evidence regarding his mother, the doctor said.
Dr McCaffrey said it was a very serious suicide attempt by a very disturbed individual who "is psychotic and schizophrenic and is responding to the pressure of a court case".
The court heard of Mr O'Donnell's attempted suicide on the 37th day of his trial on 12 charges relating to events in the west of Ireland in 1994.
Mr O'Donnell (21), a native of Co Clare but of no fixed abode, has denied the murder of Imelda Riney (29) and her son Liam (3), between April 28th and May 8th, 1994. He also denied the murder of Father Joseph Walsh (37), the former curate of Eyrecourt, Co Galway, between May 3rd and 8th, 1994, and the false imprisonment of Father Walsh.
Mr O'Donnell has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Ms Fiona Sampson and Mr Edward Cleary on May 7th, 1994 and to hijacking vehicles driven by both persons. He has also denied having a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life and for unlawful purposes on the same date.
Mr O'Donnell appeared in court yesterday morning with a distinctive red mark across his neck. The mark could be seen clearly as the top button of his shirt was undone and he was not wearing a tie although he had worn one on all other days of the trial.
Dr McCaffrey said the defendant had told him he could not concentrate properly in the court and his mind kept going back to the killings. He said he kept seeing the blood coming out of Imelda Riney's eyes and had lots of flashbacks.
Mr O'Donnell returned to the Central Mental Hospital under escort yesterday afternoon after Mr Justice Lavan directed, with the agreement of prosecution and defence counsel, that the trial could proceed in his absence.
The trial was due to get under way at 10.50 a.m. yesterday but there was a delay until 11.15 a.m. when the judge called in the jury to tell them a matter had arisen in their absence which would require a short adjournment.
When the jury returned to court at 12.30 p.m., Mr O'Donnell was not in court and Mr Justice Lavan told them they were about to hear an explanation for the adjournment.
Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, defending, told the jurors they would see Mr O'Donnell was not in his customary place in court.
He said that on Monday evening Mr O'Donnell had made a serious suicide attempt by trying to strangle himself with bedclothes. "Luckily the attempt was unsuccessful and Mr O'Donnell was here in the building this morning as he had to be."
Mr MacEntee said that on the basis of the defence's medical advice, and with the agreement of the prosecution, he had made an application to the judge that the trial continue in the absence of the defendant. For the time being Mr O'Donnell would not be in court but would be in the Central Mental Hospital, counsel said.
Dr McCaffrey said it was his view based on his expert opinion, interviews with Mr O'Donnell, medical notes from the various hospitals and institutions where he had been held and interviews with his family and teachers that he suffered from hebephrenic or disorganised schizophrenia and was also psychotic.
The witness said he personally had no doubt that Mr O'Donnell was having abnormal experiences, was hearing voices and had been for years. He said there was no question but that the defendant was psychotic and mentally ill in August 1994 when he first interviewed him in Mountjoy jail and at the time of the killings of Imelda and Liam Riney and Father Walsh.
The clearest evidence was that the schizophrenia began in 1991 but could have been there before. It was a very serious illness and Mr O'Donnell had "a very bad prognosis" for recovery. It had damaged his entire life, thinking, feelings and emotional state.
The witness said it was his view that Mr O'Donnell was very psychotic when he left prison in England in April 1994. He had not seen anything that would convince him that this psychotic condition had changed in any way between then and when Mr O'Donnell went to the Central Mental Hospital in November 1994.
The doctor told the court of a succession of interviews he had had with Mr O'Donnell from August 1994 to the present. In August 1994 he gave garbled and disjointed interviews and appeared not to be bothered at some level.
He said at that time the possibility of malingering had occurred to him as well as schizophrenia. He had no doubts about the presence of serious mental illness but also considered the possibility he might also be malingering. It was possible for persons with schizophrenia and psychosis to malinger.
During his third interview with Mr O'Donnell in August 1994 he displayed a marked and obvious laugh, and there were big delays in his responding to questions, indicating he had difficulty thinking.
He was shouting and very excited and talked of hearing the devil above him. He was clearly disoriented, and Dr McCaffrey said he believed Mr O'Donnell was not in a fit condition to instruct his lawyers.
In October 1994 he again interviewed Mr O'Donnell in a much calmer atmosphere. He had asked him about meeting John Gallagher, who was found guilty but insane of the murder of his girlfriend and her mother, while he and Gallagher were in the Central Mental Hospital.
He had asked the defendant if he was like Gallagher and he had said: "How can I pretend to be John Gallagher? We're all different. I'm not mad." He said: "I think I might be Wad sometimes, but I don't know.
The witness spoke of seeing Mr O'Donnell on November 4th, 1994, after the defendant had been for some weeks on hunger strike. He was very cold, appeared drugged and spoke of great pressure in his head.
Mr O'Donnell was moved to the Mater Hospital on foot of a court order, and Dr McCaffrey said he had brought in Bishop Dermot O'Mahony to try and persuade him off the hunger strike.
On Friday, November 11th, he noticed a huge change in Mr O'Donnell, who was still in the Mater. There were no signs of mental illness and no angry vibes, just distress. He seemed very calm.
He was transferred that weekend to the Central Mental Hospital and began to take liquids and later food. When he saw him there on November 14th he felt Mr O'Donnell was seriously mentally ill. He was "very menacing" and appeared dangerous.
At Dundrum, the defendant was treated with largactyl, a drug which stimulates the appetite and is used to treat pyschosis and schizophrenia. He believed it was initially prescribed as an appetite stimulant but later the dosage was increased.
In January 1995 Mr O'Donnell was moved to Mountjoy and just days later he cut his wrist right down to the bone through the tendons and arteries "in a very serious suicide attempt". This was "not just a cry for help but real mutilation". Mr O'Donnell had said he was responding to a man's voice outside his head telling him to cut himself.
The trial continues today.