THE YOUNG man accused of the fatal stabbing of another teenager outside his house suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Finn Colclough (18), Waterloo Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, denies the murder of student Seán Nolan (18), Griffith Court, Fairview, at Waterloo Road in the early hours of May 26th, 2007.
Speaking from Australia via a video link Paul O'Connell told Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that Mr Colclough had been diagnosed at about 10 with the condition which was characterised by obsessive behaviour patterns. He had been diagnosed some years earlier with speech and language difficulties, principally dyslexia.
Dr O'Connell, a consultant psychiatrist with the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, who also works as a forensic psychologist for the Midlands and Portlaoise prisons, told Mr Gageby that Mr Colclough had been receiving treatment from the Lucina Centre in Dublin, which specialises in treating psychiatric conditions in children and young people.
He said Mr Colclough had started going to the centre in May 2004 for treatment of OCD, dyslexia and separation anxiety. He had previously been treated at Crumlin Children's Hospital.
The centre had arranged a treatment regime involving three three-hour sessions a week. Mr Colclough had also been prescribed Prozac and the anti-psychotic drug Risperidone.
Dr O'Connell told Mr Gageby that Mr Colclough had been on 40mg of Prozac each day, which would have been a heavy dose for an adult. However, he had been taken off all medication and treatment about six months before the incident in question after his doctors considered he had made considerable improvement.
He said Mr Colclough told him that he felt his thinking had been clearer once he stopped taking the medication. He said that during his time in treatment, he had trouble sleeping, which he put down to anxiety. He was also extremely anxious about dirt and infection and would wash cutlery repeatedly, even when it was clean.
When he got home from school he would take a bath for two to three hours and would do the same on the evenings he went straight to the Lucina Centre.
"After arriving home from school he would spray the floor with Dettol to remove every contaminant. He would use up to five cans at a time." Dr O'Connell said he would become very upset if the Dettol ran out.
At one stage Mr Colclough's doctors explored the possibility that he was developing a psychotic condition but this was ultimately ruled out, Dr O'Connell said.
He agreed with Mary Ellen Ring SC, prosecuting, in cross-examination that 2-3 per cent of the population suffered from OCD and many learned to live perfectly normal lives.
Mr Justice Paul Carney warned the jurors that Dr O'Connell's evidence had been introduced for one reason only, to explain his background and baggage. He told them they may have to decide on the sense of Mr Colclough's actions bearing in mind this background and baggage.
The jury also heard from State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy. She told Ms Ring that Mr Nolan had two stab wounds to his chest. The wound on the left side was not fatal. It had sliced through the muscle under his left arm and exited without damaging any major organs or blood vessels.
Dr Cassidy said the wound on the right hand side, however, had been fatal. It had sliced through the fifth rib, puncturing the right lung and piercing the heart to a depth of 17cm. She said any of five kitchen knives she had been shown from the house could have caused the wound.
Dr Cassidy said Mr Nolan would have had to have his left arm raised to receive the wound on that side. She also agreed that the wounds were consistent with two knives being used but she could not say if both injuries had been made at the same time.
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Carney and the jury of eight men and four women.