Barr Tribunal: Mr John Carthy was clearly psychotic when he left his house carrying a loaded gun and was likely to have discharged his weapon, a psychiatrist has told the tribunal.
Dr John Sheehan, a consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Hospital, Dublin, who had not treated Mr Carthy, said his mental state had deteriorated significantly over the course of the 25-hour siege and a peaceful ending was unlikely.
Mr Carthy suffered from bi-polar disorder and was in the manic phase of his illness at the time of the Abbeylara siege on April 19th and 20th, 2000.
Even before the start of the siege, he appeared to have paranoid delusions about the gardaí, in particular that they were going to put him out of his house. His psychosis intensified during the armed stand-off.
"On the day of the 19th Mr Carthy was clearly becoming psychotic at that stage and he was acting on that by coming out with the firearm," he said.
Any insight Mr Carthy had was gone by the end of the siege and he was not acting on a rational impulse when he left the house.
"I think it is highly likely that Mr Cathy would have discharged his gun outside his house. Given how severely ill he was, I don't think anyone, even his sister Marie Carthy or Dr Shanley, would have been able to bring a peaceful resolution to the siege."
The Garda negotiator would have benefited from the advice of a psychiatrist, he said.
