A retired psychiatric nurse told a jury yesterday that a Kerry man accused of murdering his uncle was admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment after the killing.
Mr John Kelly, a retired community psychiatric nurse from Killarney, said that Mr Eugene Daly was admitted to hospital for psychiatric services.
"He was initially admitted as post-traumatic stress disorder possibly related to the stress of the whole business that was going on," he told the jury at the Central Criminal Court.
Mr Daly's counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, said no doctor was suggesting that Mr Daly was insane.
Mr Kelly said Mr Daly's condition was reviewed and assessed.
The court has heard that Eugene Daly told gardaí that he threw the body of his uncle, Patrick Daly, down a well after his father, Sean, who is now dead, had hit him with an iron bar.
Mr Daly (29), of Dooneen, Kilcummin, Killarney, has pleaded not guilty to the unlawful killing of Patrick Daly (69) at Dooneen on January 18th, 1996.
Mr Kelly told the jury that he received a phonecall on January 13th, 1996, from Mr Sean Daly expressing concerns about his brother Paddy's behaviour.
Sean told him that he had received a solicitor's letter warning him to keep away from the house.
Mr Kelly said he arranged for Patrick Daly to have an outpatient appointment for January 22nd.
Cross-examined by Mr Grehan, Mr Kelly said there was a history of psychiatric illness in the accused man's family.His mother had been hospitalised for schizophrenia, and his sister, Eileen, also suffered from schizophrenia.
He said that Eugene Daly would have been 16 years old when his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Mr Kelly said the victim had suffered from bipolar disorder and had mood swings. He told Mr Grehan that it would be fair to say that "Sean supported Paddy over the years. He was always concerned."
The trial before Mr Justice Abbott and a jury of six men and six women continues today.