Courts

Woman to continue psychiatric treatment after being found not guilty of mother’s murder by reason of insanity

Trial heard Moire Bergin (47) believed Mary Bergin (76) was the devil when she stabbed her in Dublin 1 in 2022

Gardaí at the scene on Seville Place, Dublin 1 after the discovery of Mary Bergin's body. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins
Gardaí at the scene on Seville Place, Dublin 1 after the discovery of Mary Bergin's body. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins
Alison O'Riordan
Tue Jul 16 2024 - 12:11

A woman who stabbed her 76-year-old mother to death in the belief she was the devil just five days after she was released from psychiatric care is to remain in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) to continue treatment.

A Central Criminal Court judge made the order on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after a jury returned the special verdict of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity following the trial of Moire Bergin.

James Dwyer SC, prosecuting, told Mr Justice Paul McDermott he had a report from Dr Ronan Mullaney, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the CMH. The prosecutor said that having examined Ms Bergin, Dr Mullaney is of the view that she continues to suffer from a mental disorder and requires “ongoing treatment”.

Mr Dwyer asked the court to make the order under the provisions of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 for her to continue her treatment in the CMH. Mr Justice McDermott said he would make the appropriate order under the 2006 Act and committed Ms Bergin to the CMH. He thanked all parties for their assistance in the case.

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Ms Bergin (47), with an address at Seville Place in Dublin 1 had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of her mother Mary Bergin in her home at First Avenue, Seville Place on April 13th, 2022.

On July 3rd at the Central Criminal Court, the 12 jurors accepted the evidence given by two consultant forensic psychiatrists that the defendant was suffering from bipolar affective disorder with symptoms of mania, depression and psychosis at the time of the killing and fulfilled the criteria for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The case, Ms Bergin’s counsel Fiona Murphy SC had told the jury, was a “heartbreaking” one, with the defendant stood accused of murdering her mother, who was “the one person to whom she felt closest with and who supported her tirelessly through her life”.

The trial heard that Ms Bergin had struggled with her mental health since 2005 and was detained 16 times under the Mental Health Act prior to the killing. Symptoms of Ms Bergin’s mental illness included religious delusions and exposing herself, which one psychiatrist said was a clear indicator that she was not well.

The defendant’s mental health deteriorated significantly in the year leading up to the fatal stabbing with more frequent admissions to hospital. Ms Bergin had six psychiatric admissions to hospital between March 6th, 2021 and April 8th, 2022 and was last released from hospital five days before killing her mother.

State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers, who carried out a postmortem examination on Mary Bergin, found stab wounds to the victim’s neck and forehead as well as defensive injuries to the back of the forearms. She had experienced significant blood loss which had caused organ failure and death.

During interviews at Store Street Garda station the defendant talked “about the devil being the ruination of souls” and having seen the devil in her mother’s eyes.

The jury of six men and six women spent one hour and seven minutes deliberating before bringing in a unanimous verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.