The Central Mental Hospital should not be the only facility available for detaining people under the Criminal Insanity Act, a solicitor for the HSE in Limerick has claimed.
Derry O'Donovan was speaking at Limerick District Court yesterday in relation to the case of a 25-year-old Nigerian man who was finally admitted to the CMH this week after spending a week in custody moving between Limerick prison, a Garda station and a Limerick hotel.
John Ughamadu was due before Limerick District Court yesterday after being accused of assaulting a porter at the Quality Hotel in Limerick last Sunday.
He was placed in emergency accommodation at the hotel last weekend following a High Court order in Dublin last Friday.
Mr Ughamadu is also before Limerick District Court on a public order charge which relates to an alleged attempt to sleep naked in a crib in a Limerick church last December.
The 25-year-old homeless man has been waiting to be mentally assessed at the Central Mental Hospital for over a week. He was previously refused a bed at the Dublin facility because there was none available.
Limerick District Court heard yesterday that Mr Ughamadu was admitted to the CMH on Tuesday night following a direction from the governor of Limerick prison where he was in custody since his eviction from the Quality Hotel last Sunday.
Judge Tom O'Donnell excused Mr Ughamadu's absence from court yesterday after receiving a fax from the CMH confirming the 25-year-old had been admitted and stating that he was unfit to attend court.
The judge also excused the director of the CMH, Harry Kennedy, whom he had previously ordered to attend yesterday's proceedings in Limerick.
"I had previously directed the director of the CMH and a person attached to the local mental health service be present in court but in light of the developments that have taken place in the last few days I excuse their presence at this time," the judge said
A solicitor for the HSE told the court, however, that the Criminal Insanity Act passed last year was frustrating efforts to obey court orders.
Mr O'Donovan, for the HSE, said the reality of the CMH is that it has a higher ratio of staff to patients and once the system is filled it cannot physically be altered to accommodate any more patients.
Mr O'Donovan said this frustrates their ability to obey court orders if it is physically impossible to accommodate someone.
The solicitor referred to a recommendation by the hospital's director Prof Harry Kennedy that the Dublin facility should not be the only place available for detaining people under the Insanity Act 2006.
Judge O'Donnell adjourned Mr Ughamadu's case until February 6th next and said a further adjournment may be required on that date if the defendant is deemed unfit to attend.