A man who admitted killing an elderly bachelor in a Co Cavan psychiatric unit has been jailed for eight years.
Ian Harman (50), of Carrickallen, Mountain Lodge, Cootehill, Co Cavan, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Michael Treanor (82) at the psychiatric unit of Cavan General Hospital, Lisdarn, Co Cavan on June 27th, 2011.
On the eighth day of his trial last July, Harman was re-arraigned before the Central Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Paddy McCarthy SC prosecuting told the court that the plea was acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis of Section 6 of the Criminal Law Insanity Act.
Under the Act the jury or court may find the person not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Mr Treanor was suffering from dementia and Harman was admitted to the unit on June 20th, 2011 as a voluntary patient after attempting suicide.
The court heard that on June 27th, 2011, Harman got up on Mr Treanor’s bed and used a belt and a pillow to kill him.
Today Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan handed down a ten-year sentence but suspended the final two years and backdated it to June 28th, 2011 for time spent in custody.
The judge said the mitigating circumstances were his remorse, his plea of guilty , his admission at the start of the trial that he killed Mr Traenor, and his co-operation with the garda investigation and psychiatrists.
“In a case such as this where the offender was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the offence, the court is also particularly mindful of its duty to protect the public,’ said Mr Justice Sheehan.
Mr Justice Sheehan also ordered that Harman co-operate with an integrated sentence management programme, to be put in place for him when he goes back to prison and that he undergo two years post-release supervision.