Two consultant psychiatrists have differed on whether a man who was suffering from a manic episode related to bipolar disorder when he killed his mother qualifies for a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Dr Eugene Morgan, who was called by defence lawyers for Billy Burns (55), confirmed under cross-examination that he never asked the accused about the killing of his mother.
Mr Burns accepts killing but denies murdering his mother Miriam Burns (75) at her home in Ardshanavooley, Killarney, Co Kerry, between August 12th and August 15th, 2022. Ms Burns died from manual strangulation associated with blunt force trauma to the head.
Mr Burns has pleaded not guilty to her murder by reason of insanity and is on trial at the Central Criminal Court.
RM Block
Dr Morgan on Friday told defence barrister Anthony Sammon SC that he is a consultant psychiatrist with 50 years of experience. He saw the accused 11 days after the alleged offence, when Mr Burns was on remand in Cork Prison. Dr Morgan found Mr Burns to be hypomanic and his condition deteriorated to mania over the following days. Dr Morgan agreed with a diagnosis that Mr Burns had bipolar affective disorder.
In December of that year, the prison transferred Mr Burns to the Central Mental Hospital where he was given a weekly injection of antipsychotic medication at a high therapeutic dose, the doctor said. On January 24th, 2023, he returned to Cork Prison and his mental state was much improved, Dr Morgan said.
He described the accused as a “gentleman” who was helpful and courteous, whereas he had been incoherent and aggressive prior to treatment. Dr Morgan said he was satisfied the accused was suffering from a relapse of bipolar affective disorder secondary to poor compliance with medication and illicit substance misuse when he assaulted his mother.
Dr Morgan said he was further satisfied that due to his mental illness, Mr Burns did not know the nature and quality of his actions, was unable to determine whether his actions were wrong and was likely unable to refrain from his actions. He said Mr Burns meets the criteria under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 for a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Under cross-examination by Sean Guerin SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Morgan confirmed he never asked the accused about the alleged killing of his mother. He said he would not ask about the alleged offence because he would not want to be “put in a situation of having information you might have to divulge in court”.
He accepted he did not look at videos of Mr Burns’s garda interviews.
Dr Stephen Monks told Mr Guerin that in his report, he referred to statements in the book of evidence, Mr Burns’s history of psychiatric treatment going back to 1991, and videos of his interviews with gardaí and his own interviews with the accused.
Dr Monks said the accused told him that in the week before his mother’s death, he had been bingeing on alcohol and smoking cannabis and crack cocaine. His drug use, Dr Monks said, likely caused a relapse or worsened the symptoms of bipolar disorder.
It is also likely Mr Burns was not just manic at the time of the killing, but also intoxicated, the witness said.
Dr Monks said Mr Burns told him he was hearing voices in his head telling him to kill his mother. The doctor said there was no record in Mr Burns’s previous history of auditory hallucination and he had not told anyone else about hearing voices. Dr Monks said this put limitations on the weight he could give to the account of hearing voices.
On balance, Dr Monks found that Mr Burns was more likely not psychotic at the time he killed his mother although he was suffering mania or hypomania with intoxication. Notwithstanding his manic symptoms, he understood the nature and quality of his actions and knew that it was wrong to assault his mother, Dr Monks said.
In his opinion, the presence of mania does not support a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The trial continues.
