Graham Dwyer trial told O’Hara had been ‘in cheerful form’

A therapist who met Elaine O’Hara the day before she went missing in August 2012 has described her as being “in cheerful form” and said he did not believe she was suicidal on that occasion.

Cognitive behavioural therapist Stuart Colquhoun told the court he had an appointment with Ms O’Hara on Tuesday, August 21st, 2012, the day before she went missing.

Asked by Seán Guerin for the prosecution whether he believed she was suicidal on that occasion, he said: “No.”

Graham Dwyer (42), an architect from Kerrymount Close in Foxrock, is charged with murdering Dublin childcare worker Ms O'Hara, then aged 36, on August 22nd, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty.

The therapist, who was based at St Edmundsbury Hospital, said Ms O’Hara had been “in cheerful form”.

“She was spontaneous, smiling, she seemed happy and really kind of excited,” he said.

He told the court Ms O’Hara had been planning to do some work at the Tall Ships festival as a volunteer.

Ms O’Hara had missed an appointment the previous day after she texted Mr Colquhoun to say she was on a bus coming from town and that the bus had broken down.

Remy Farrell SC put it to the witness that, in fact, evidence from Dublin Bus would say there had not been any bus breakdown and Mr Colquhoun agreed he was surprised to learn this.

Mr Guerin told the court there had been a breakdown of a number 66 bus recorded at 15.49 on August 20th, the date Ms O’Hara had texted Mr Colquhoun to say she could not make her appointment. Mr Colquhoun had received a text message from Ms O’Hara at 15.42, his statement recorded.

Mr Colquhoun agreed he was aware Ms O’Hara had been in contact with the Samaritans the previous month after she had “made a noose”.

He told the court he was aware Ms O’Hara had asked someone to kill her in 2008. She had also told him that BDSM was what she liked and that she had gone to a fetish night.

Earlier the court heard from Ms O’Hara’s doctor, Matthew Corcoran, of the Foxrock Medical Centre.

Dr Corcoran said the primary condition for which he was treating Ms O’Hara was asthma, but that she also had diabetes which was “well controlled”.

Asked if he was ever aware of her having been pregnant, he replied he was not.

He was aware she had been having psychiatric treatment, and while he would have inquired generally about it, he was not involved in the management of it.

Dr Corcoran said he believed that, when he saw her in July 2012, her medical status was better than in previous times and that she was doing “reasonably well”.

He had carried out blood tests which revealed a low vitamin B12 level and said she was on a cholesterol tablet, which seemed to be working well.

Dr Corcoran said on that occasion in July he had prescribed for Ms O’Hara an antibiotic and a short course of oral steroids to treat a respiratory problem, which included a “minor wheeze”.

Under cross-examination by Mr Farrell, Dr Corcoran said that, while he might have been named as the referring doctor in relation to Ms O’Hara’s admissions for psychiatric treatment, he had not, in fact, ever referred her.

When he gave a statement to gardaí on August 30th, 2012, some days after Ms O’Hara went missing, he was not aware at that time that she had been in St Edmundsbury Hospital for treatment.

Dr Corcoran also agreed documents relating to Ms O’Hara made reference to a “toxic lung injury” which may have related to a previous suicide attempt.

Asked about scars on Ms O’Hara’s abdomen during an examination for irritable bowel syndrome, Dr Corcoran said he had no immediate recollection of them.

Dr Corcoran was also taken through a series of letters indicating various admissions for psychiatric care from 2000 to 2009.

In one discharge letter, dated November 23rd, 2006, she was described as having suicidal ideation and had told doctors she had “six ways to kill myself” but that she did not elaborate.

Ms O’Hara had also described occasionally hearing voices.

“I don’t know who they are but they are there all the time,” she had told doctors.

A discharge letter from Dr Matt Murphy of St Patrick’s on February 23rd, 2009 had described Ms O’Hara as having a “borderline personality disorder”, the court heard.

The court was shown a letter from the late Prof Anthony Clare, who was treating Ms O’Hara. The discharge letter dated June 1st, 2000 was addressed to Dr Corcoran.

Under re-examination by Seán Guerin SC for the prosecution, Dr Corcoran agreed that one of Ms O’Hara’s admissions had been on May 14th, 2003. This was just a few months after the anniversary of her mother’s death.

She had been feeling low for sometime, and had been getting progressively worse since Easter, the court heard. The document noted she had left her father’s house “in a rage” on March 17th that same year, the date of her birthday.

A quote from Ms O’Hara in the medical report read: “I was not born for life. No one likes me. I’m a bad person.”

She had been described, however, as “very friendly” and interacting with staff. She was also helping to raise money for Aware, which helps people with depression. The court heard Ms O’Hara had been cutting herself and that these were all “superficial” cuts on her thighs. She had claimed to get relief from this. Dr Corcoran described Ms O’Hara as having suffered from paranoid ideation.

The court heard this manifested itself in a belief that people were watching her and talking about her. She was also preoccupied with intrusive thoughts, where she was being persecuted by “some main characters” in her head.

The trial is continuing before the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.