Without unblocking a memory block in a man accused of murder, it was impossible to say if he lost control at the time of the offence, a psychiatrist told a murder trial yesterday.
In the Central Criminal Court, Mr Declan Burke (29), with a last address on the South Circular Road, Dublin 8, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his former girlfriend, Jennifer Wilkinson (24), at her home in the Rise, Boden Park, Ballyboden, near Rathfarnham, Dublin on December 13th, 2000.
He has also denied assault causing serious harm to her mother, Ms Mary Wilkinson (57), by stabbing her at the house in Ballyboden on the same date.
Yesterday, a psychiatrist and a psychologist were recalled to the witness stand in the trial, where the accused man's past sexual abuse at the hands of his father has been raised in his defence.
Psychologist Dr Grace O'Malley has said that, at the time she provided therapy to the accused, five years before the stabbings, he was suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of his father, Noel Burke, a convicted child sex abuser.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ronald Draper agreed with trial judge Mr Justice White that there was no evidence the accused man lost control in the moments of the stabbings.
Re-examined by defence counsel, Mr Patrick MacEntee, SC, Dr Draper said it would be "purely speculation" to say what happened as the accused could not remember.
He said that, when the accused was faced with a situation with which he could not cope, he used a denial mechanism frequently seen in people who have been sexually abused. "I think it clicked into place", he told Mr MacEntee. Such lost memory could normally only be retrieved after years of therapy, he said.
In answer to a question from the judge, Dr Draper also said it was possible that, at the time of the stabbings, the accused had "a diminished capability" of controlling what he did.
Under cross-examination, Dr Draper told Mr Edward Comyn, SC, prosecuting, Mr Burke said he had a knife with him on the night of the stabbings because he wanted to kill himself.
Both sides have concluded their evidence and the jury is expected to retire to consider a verdict today.