Man who stabbed mother was on release from mental hospital

A young man who stabbed his mother 10 times with a kitchen knife was released earlier from a mental hospital against the wishes of the medical team which was treating him for paranoia and psychosis, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Dr Tom Fahy, a consultant psychiatrist, told Judge Paul Carney and a jury that the discharge of Paul Henry, now 28, was decided on by a Mental Health Tribunal when he began to show improvement after he had been detained in hospital for three weeks.

Dr Fahy told the court sitting in Castlebar that after his release, Henry, who is accused of killing his 47 year-old mother at The Spinney, Abbeytown, Roscommon, stopped taking his anti-psychosis tablets and fell very rapidly out of the control of the medical team.

The team had tried to follow up on the patient but could not make contact, Dr Fahy said.

The witness said Mrs Henry had been killed on September 17th, 2011 in a “catastrophic overreaction” to the fact that she was moving to Athlone and there would be a need for her son to find new accommodation.

Dr Fahy said the accused had launched what he described as a “multi-faceted attack” on Ann Henry using a knife, his feet, his fists and a broomstick handle.

Mrs Henry was dead by the time she reached hospital following the attack at her home, despite the efforts of neighbours to assist and comfort her.

Evidence was given today that Paul Henry suffered extreme paranoia and psychotic delusions in the months leading up to the killing.

Dr Brenda Wright, consultant psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital, Dublin, where Henry has been detained since his arrest, said she was satisfied he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the event.

The State concluded its evidence in the case last evening. The jury is expected to retire to make its decision tomorrow morning.