A man whose three children were killed by their mother at their south Dublin home three years ago has called for the scope of the inquest into their deaths to be widened.
Lawyers for Andrew McGinley asked the coroner overseeing the inquest to look into the medical care that his wife Deirdre Morley received for a mental illness in the two years preceding the deaths of the children.
However, the application was challenged by a legal representative for consultant psychiatrist Olivia Gibbons, who had treated Ms Morley prior to the tragedy.
The children – Conor (nine), Darragh (seven) and Carla (three) – died at Parson’s Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin on January 24th, 2020. Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard in September 2020 that the siblings died from suffocation.
Ms Morley, a paediatric nurse, was found not guilty of their murder by reason of insanity following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in May 2021.
Damien Higgins SC, for Mr McGinley, told a resumed hearing of the inquest on Monday that Ms Morley suffered from mental illness and was under the care of the HSE prior to “this desperate, sad event”. He noted that Ms Morley had been an in-patient at a private psychiatric hospital less than six months before the death of her children.
Not properly diagnosed
The barrister said it was Mr McGinley’s belief that his wife’s condition had not been properly diagnosed and she had not been properly treated. Mr Higgins said his client also believed he had not been properly involved in Ms Morley’s diagnosis and treatment in relation to its nature, extent and symptoms.
The inquest heard that Mr McGinley believed there was a link between the treatment received by his wife and his children’s deaths.
Mr Higgins told coroner Cróna Gallagher that Mr McGinley’s motivation in seeking to widen the scope of the inquest was to identify circumstances which could prevent the recurrence of such a terrible event. He argued there was a strong public interest in extending the scope of the inquest beyond the immediate circumstances of the deaths.
He acknowledged that Mr McGinley wished to inquire into the clinical judgement of medical professionals who had treated his wife.
However, counsel for Dr Gibbons, a consultant psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, who treated Ms Morley, said the proposed extension of the inquest’s scope would result in an inquiry that would be “a radically different matter not envisaged by the Oireachtas”.
Greater complexity
Simon Mills SC said the inquiry being sought by Mr McGinley would not affect the real cause of death of his children. He said there was a greater complexity than might appear at first sight to the application to consider the treatment of Ms Morley’s mental illness.
He said the application was not seeking to have the examination of the care of Ms Morley limited to the time around the deaths but extended for a period of two years. He claimed such an extension was not necessary for the coroner’s court to meet its obligations under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The inquest heard that Ms Morley had been voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility in July 2019 and had been discharged from the care of Dr Gibbons on August 1st, 2019.
Dr Gibbons had no further contact with Ms Morley from that date, counsel said. He said nothing had been disclosed at that time to the psychiatrist by Ms Morley in relation to subsequent events which unfolded.
Dr Mills also pointed out that an expert witness had given evidence on behalf of Ms Morley during her criminal trial that she had only formed the intention to act on her children in January 2020 and this intention was not disclosed to anybody.
Dr Gallagher offered her condolences to Mr McGinley and adjourned the hearing to allow any relevant parties to make submissions before issuing a ruling on the scope of the inquest.