Five days after being released from mental health treatment, a woman killed her 76-yr-old mother by stabbing her to death because she thought the mother was the devil. The woman was declared not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, reports Breaking News.
The 12 jurors heard testimony from two consultant forensic psychiatrists who testified that Moire Bergin, the accused, had bipolar affective disorder at the time of the killing and met the requirements for a special verdict. Bergin’s symptoms included mania, depression, and psychosis.
The trial jury was informed by Ms. Bergin’s defence solicitor, Fiona Murphy SC, that the case was “heartbreaking” and that the defendant was charged with killing her elderly mother—”the one person to whom she felt closest and who supported her tirelessly”—in this instance.
Prior to the murder, Ms. Bergin had 16 detentions under the Mental Health Act and had battled mental illness since 2005, according to testimony presented during her trial at the Central Criminal Court, reports Breaking News.
One physician noted that religious delusions and self-exposure were symptoms of Ms. Bergin’s mental disorder and that these were unmistakable signs that she was not well.
The year preceding the fatal stabbing saw a substantial decline in the defendant’s mental state and an increase in hospital hospitalisations.
Between March 6, 2021, and April 8, 2022, Ms. Bergin was admitted to the hospital six times for mental reasons. She was last discharged from the hospital five days before to killing her mother, reports Breaking News.
The defendant met the three requirements for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity under the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006, according to the two psychiatrists called as expert witnesses. These criteria are that the defendant was unable to understand the nature and quality of the act, was unable to recognise that what she did at the time was morally wrong, and would not have been able to refrain from her actions.
During the one-day trial, which was described as “stark and deeply tragic” by Mr. Justice Paul McDermott, it was revealed that Ms. Bergin, covered in blood, had fatally stabbed her mother in the head and neck and was discovered nude on a Dublin street, reports Breaking News.
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