Crime & Law

Woman pleads not guilty to mother’s murder by reason of insanity

Judge says the state of mind of Moire Bergin (47) at the time Mary Bergin (76) was killed in Dublin is at issue in case

Gardaí at the scene on First Avenue, Seville Place, Dublin, where Mary Bergin was found dead on April 13th, 2022. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins
Gardaí at the scene on First Avenue, Seville Place, Dublin, where Mary Bergin was found dead on April 13th, 2022. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins
Alison O'Riordan
Mon Jul 01 2024 - 21:50

A woman has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering her 76-year-old mother in her home in Dublin’s north inner city more than two years ago.

Moire Bergin (47), with an address at Seville Place, Dublin 1, is charged with murdering Mary Bergin in her home on First Avenue, Seville Place, on April 13th, 2022.

Ms Bergin was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court on Monday on a single charge of murder. When the registrar read the indictment and asked the accused how she was pleading, she replied: “Not guilty by reason of insanity.”

Mr Justice Paul McDermott told the jury panel that Mary Bergin was the mother of Moire Bergin and that the issue in the case concerned the state of mind of the accused at the time her mother was killed. He said the case would be “presented in short form as much of the facts of what happened are agreed as to how Mary Bergin came to meet her death”.

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He said Det Sgt John Brady from Store Street Garda station would give an outline of the facts of the case during the trial.

The judge said the jury would also hear evidence from consultant forensic psychiatrists Dr Stephen Monks and Dr Paul O’Connell.

A jury of six men and six women was sworn in to hear the trial, which is due to begin on Tuesday before Mr Justice McDermott and is expected to last up to two days.