Diagnosing a man accused of murdering his sister as suffering from a mental disorder was an attempt to "clutch at straws", according to the director of the Central Mental Hospital.
Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Harry Kennedy told the Central Criminal Court yesterday that defence psychiatrists' diagnoses of depersonalisation disorder and temporal lobe epilepsy was an attempt to find an explanation in this "tragic case".
"Part of the tragic event is one searches for meaning even if that means clutching at straws," he said. "All of us would like to have an explanation for this. Unfortunately, I can't find evidence of it."
Dr Kennedy was giving evidence in the trial of Patrick O'Dwyer (21), Shrohill, Ennistymon, Co Clare, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his sister Marguerite (17) in November 2004.
Dr Kennedy told John Edwards SC, prosecuting, that he believed Mr O'Dwyer had a "severe alcohol problem" and that on the day of the killing, he was overcome with "profound feelings of shame and embarrassment" following an extremely drunken episode which "the whole town" knew about.
He accepted Mr O'Dwyer's account that he picked up the hammer with the intention of killing himself and that he only thought of killing his sister because he was afraid she would stop him.
"If there's a straightforward answer for something, don't try to make it more difficult."
He said he had a "good rapport" Mr O'Dwyer during interview. He could not find any evidence of a depersonalisation disorder or temporal lobe epilepsy diagnosed by his colleagues.
He described the depersonalisation diagnosis as "weak" because its definition varied within editions of psychiatric classification manuals and its symptoms "are symptoms which normal people have". "He knew where he was and what he was doing."
He described the video-like state experienced by Mr O'Dwyer at the time of the killing as a "poetic metaphor" and not a clinical symptom. He also denied "interesting and suspicious" spikes in his brainwave pattern were evidence he had epilepsy.
Even if he was wrong and Mr O'Dwyer did suffer from the depersonalisation disorder, he still did not see how it could be connected to the killing.
Cross-examined by Patrick Gageby SC, defending, Dr Kennedy insisted Mr O'Dwyer was in the "fullness of his mind" at the time of the killing.
The trial before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury continues.