A MAN who had been found guilty of murder but insane has been jailed for 18 months by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
Patrick Ellis (31), of Dromard Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the then 15 year old boy on three occasions in 1992.
Ellis was found guilty but insane by a Central Criminal Court jury on June 6th, 1987 on a charge of murdering his friend James Cogan (17).
The verdict in that case came after a 13 day trial which heard that the victim's body was found in a field near Baldonnel airport on June 18th, 1986. He had been battered to death.
Jailing Ellis in the sexual assault case, Judge Cyril Kelly said it was clear from the evidence and reports that the defendant was a practising homosexual but probably without paedophile tendencies.
It appeared that a pornographic video with homosexual content was a factor in the case and the offences involved homosexual opportunism. Ellis did not take the victim's age into consideration when the offences were committed.
Judge Kelly praised the gardai involved in the case for what he called their "sensitive handling".
Replying to Mr Robert Sheehan, for the Chief State Solicitor, a garda gave evidence that the offences involved two cases of masturbation and one of oral sex. When confronted, Ellis made a statement and was cooperative.
Ellis told the gardai he and his victim got aroused when looking at a pornographic movie when the first offence occurred.
He said the victim initiated the second offence outdoors at a later date. The third happened in a bedroom. He never had any intention of hurting anyone, he told gardai.
Mr Barry White SC (with Mr Hugh Hartnett), defending, said Ellis was never considered insane by the experts at the Central Mental Hospital, although he was committed there after the verdict in the murder trial.
Mr White said the jury was given the option of returning that verdict by Mr Justice O Hanlon despite the opposition of both the prosecution counsel and of him when he appeared for Ellis in the murder trial. He said a "guilty but insane" verdict was a special one which could not be appealed.
Mr Justice O'Hanlon ordered Ellis's release on August 1st, 1989 but recommitted him to Dundrum on February 9th, 1990.
The Supreme Court ruled in June 1990 that the trial judge was wrong and Ellis was released again on June 26th, 1990 when the case was sent back to Mr Justice O'Hanlon.
When Mr Justice O'Hanlon reviewed the case again on July 19th, 1991, he sent the defendant back to Dundrum.
Ellis was finally released from Dundrum on November 21st, 1991 by the then Minister for Justice, Mr Ray Burke, following a report by a committee of experts. This committee had been established by him in September 1991 to recommend on persons found guilty but insane.
This committee advised the Minister that Ellis's continued detention "in both public and private interests is not warranted".
The murder trial jury had been told by a psychiatrist, Dr James Behan, that in his view Ellis had suffered a migraine attack associated with a form of epilepsy and was in an "autonomous state" at the time of the killing.