THE DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions has failed in her bid to increase a 10-year prison sentence imposed on a psychiatric patient who admitted stabbing two health workers during a 'frenzied' attack at a hospital in Limerick.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday said legislation would be required to address the issues raised by the case of Anthony McMahon whom the DPP claimed represented a clear danger to others.
The sentence imposed on McMahon raised “an important and difficult issue in relation to the sentencing of mentally ill offenders who pose a serious risk of harming others”, Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell said.
The issue of whether sentencing courts should be given powers to detain those deemed a threat to the public beyond any sentence for the crime committed should be addressed by detailed legislation from the Government following detailed and appropriate research and debate, he said.
McMahon, Raheen Square, Ballinacurra, Weston, Limerick, had pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Dr Ananth Pullela and assault causing harm to Catherine Burns at St Anne’s Day Hospital on January 17th, 2008.
He was jailed for 10 years by Judge Carroll Moran at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court in 2009.
The DPP argued that a life sentence should have been imposed, and appealed against the sentence on grounds it was “unduly lenient”.
Yesterday, the court, comprising Mr Justice O’Donnell, presiding and sitting with Ms Justice Maureen Clark and Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe, dismissed the DPP’s application.
The DPP had argued that the sentence was unduly lenient in circumstances where McMahon had attacked the two healthcare workers shortly after completing a seven-year sentence for killing another man in 2001. The DPP argued that he represented a clear danger to others.
She said that had McMahon pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have been detained at the Central Mental Hospital until he was considered safe to be released.
A similar result could and should be achieved by imposing a life sentence on McMahon.
Lawyers for McMahon argued that the sentence should not be altered and submitted the sentencing process could not be used for what was effectively preventive detention.
The Mental Health Act of 2001 provided the only mechanism for the detention of a person considered a danger to the public or themselves, it was submitted.
Giving judgment, Mr Justice O’Donnell said a sentencing judge could sentence an offender only in respect of the offence of which they were convicted.
The court did not have power to impose a sentence for a criminal offence which would allow for an “open-ended detention” on grounds of “anticipated future risk of harm”, he said.
The issue of whether sentencing courts should be given additional powers in respect of a person who posed a serious public risk “required the most careful review and sophisticated analysis by all the organs of Government”.
McMahon suffered from “a serious psychiatric illness” and required detention in a hospital setting where he could be treated and supervised, the judge noted.
If McMahon required further treatment after his sentence expired, it was open to any competent person such as a garda or a prison governor to make an application under the 2001 Act.
The court heard Dr Pullela, who had been treating McMahon, was lucky to survive after being stabbed eight times in the chest by him. As he fled the scene, McMahon stabbed psychologist Catherine Burns (64) in the stomach, resulting in her sustaining serious injuries.