LAST UPDATE | 14 Oct 2022

A 29-YEAR-OLD MAN admits killing his mother “without any lawful justification” by inflicting five fatal blows to her head with a hatchet whilst she lay in her bed, a murder trial jury has heard.

It was during the opening of the trial of Patrick Dunne at the Central Criminal Court today that a prosecuting barrister said that expert psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence are in agreement that the accused was insane “as defined by law” at the time of his mother’s death.

Patrick Gageby SC, defending Dunne, made a number of admissions of fact to the court today on behalf of his client. These included that the accused killed his mother Susan Dunne and had done so “without any lawful justification”.

Dunne from Ballingeragh, Lixnaw, Co Kerry has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court today, having pleaded not guilty to murdering his mother Susan Dunne (62) between 26 and 27 November 2013, both dates inclusive, at the same address.

Opening the case for the prosecution today, Dominic McGinn SC said that this was “quite an unusual trial” as a lot of it will involve statements being read to the jury.

Outlining the facts of the case, McGinn said her body was found in her bedroom between 11am and 11.30am on the morning of 27 November. Susan Dunne, who was already dead by the time she was found, had sustained at least five blows to her head, he said.

Counsel told the jury that her son, Patrick, was 19 years old at the time and had been diagnosed with autism at a relatively young age. The accused required additional care “on top of the usual parenting requirements”, he added.

The prosecution barrister went on to tell the court that the Lixnaw and Listowel communities were used to the sight of Susan Dunne driving around in her car with her son Patrick in the back seat.

Detailing the evidence that will be heard, McGinn said one of the regular things that she did was to collect her son’s disability allowance from the post office. “She looked after his social welfare card, Patrick would withdraw the money and then Susan would give him €5 for himself,” he explained.

What raised concern on 27 November, the lawyer said, was that Patrick arrived alone at the post office, withdrew the money himself and was seen to be driving around unaccompanied in his mother’s car. “Because of that various neighbours were alerted and they went around to the Dunne house,” he said.

There will be evidence, McGinn said, that neighbours found the front door of the Dunne house unlocked but one of the internal doors was locked.

The barrister further stated that one of the neighbours had opened a window and looked inside. The neighbour made a decision to force open the bedroom door, where he found Susan Dunne’s body. The neighbour called the emergency services immediately and when the ambulance crew arrived they found her without a pulse and cold to touch.

She was formally pronounced dead at 11.51am that morning.

Outlining the circumstances of the deceased’s death, McGinn said that State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster conducted a full post mortem and confirmed that Susan Dunne had sustained six wounds to her head, five of them were a significant size and situated behind her right ear.

Dr Bolster found multiple fractures and fatal trauma to the deceased’s brain underneath the wounds. “She certified that brain trauma was the cause of death and that the wounds were consistent when Ms Dunne was lying in bed in the position that she was found,” he continued.

McGinn said the evidence will be that a hatchet used for chopping wood was found in the kitchen. Dr Bolster found the wounds were consistent with having been inflicted by the hatchet.

Counsel also indicated to the jury that gardaí found the hatchet next to the fridge in the kitchen, that the blade was clean but there was some blood-staining on the rear of it, which matched the accused’s DNA profile.

A DNA profiling was also conducted on the handle of the hatchet and the major profile matched the accused’s DNA, he said.

The court heard further evidence will be that gardai interviewed witnesses over the next few days, who had encountered Patrick that morning, to ascertain a pattern of what took place.

McGinn said a man had encountered Patrick at 9.30am that day when the accused arrived at his home and began asking for his sister. The man’s sister had worked at the accused’s former school and Patrick had developed “an attachment” to her, he said.

The barrister said Patrick was also seen driving alone in his mother’s car that morning by a local woman.

The accused had been in the post office at 10.30am that morning where he withdrew his disability allowance, said Mr McGinn. Staff realised there was something unusual and contacted the family’s neighbours, he added.

There will also be evidence, counsel said, that the accused spoke to a man who worked in a shop in the town centre and had let Patrick borrow his mobile phone. The accused then contacted a woman he had met through his former school to attempt to arrange a meeting with her in Listowel that morning.

“She said she wasn’t available until later that day but Patrick went to the Listowel Arms Hotel that morning and said he was there to meet a friend,” he explained.

The accused, counsel said, was later seen on the street at 11am and told another man that he was in town with his mother who was shopping.

At 11.30am, the lawyer said, Patrick went to Listowel Community College, where he was attending once a week, had a cup of tea and spoke to members of staff.

By this stage, counsel said that the deceased’s body had been found and gardaí were alerted.

Evidence will also be heard that Garda Declan McDonagh noticed Susan Dunne’s car parked on Market Street in Listowel and went over to it. The garda said he told Patrick that his mother had been found dead when he saw the accused approach the car. The garda also suggested to Patrick that he accompany him to Listowel Garda Station as he was probably the last person to have seen her.

Garda McDonagh arrested Patrick after being notified that the accused had been identified as a formal suspect in the case.

The court will also hear evidence, the lawyer said, that the accused’s key worker told gardaí that Patrick had autism and some other issues. He was examined by a local GP and a consultant psychiatrist, who both said the accused was fit to be questioned.

Patrick sat through a series of interviews and the jury will hear the details of the account the accused gave in due course, he said. “He did accept that he had struck his mother with a hatchet, that he had left the hatchet in the kitchen and he explained the reasoning behind that,” said McGinn.

The court will also hear, the barrister indicated, what had happened to make Patrick strike his mother and the various events unfolding before and after the assault.

The accused was released from garda detention and then formally charged with the offence of murder in November 2013.

The barrister said there had been a delay since 2013 as the accused was assessed by a psychiatrist and it was determined that he was not fit to stand trial. Counsel added: “He didn’t have sufficient capacity to understand what was going on and was remanded for treatment to a psychiatric facility. That has been the position in the interim since 2013 and in more recent times he has been deemed fit to stand trial.”

Susan Dunne had sustained six blows to her head with the hatchet and five of them were fatal, said McGinn, adding that the natural and probable consequences of inflicting this is that at the very least a person would suffer serious harm or would probably die.

The lawyer told the jurors that this was an “unusual case” as a special defence was available which allowed them to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity based on an assessment by the professional psychiatrists in the case.

In summary, McGinn told the jury that they will hear evidence from two psychiatrists, who both agree that the accused was insane as defined by law at the time of his mother’s death.

He said it was for the jurors to determine whether “the psychiatrists determination” can be accepted and that the important evidence in the case would come from the psychiatrists.

Gageby told the court it was accepted that matters had been properly investigated by the authorities and said the “sole issue” in the case was whether the accused was not guilty by reason of insanity.

This afternoon, a statement by postmistress Ann McCarthy from Lixnaw post office, was read into the record by McGinn.

McCarthy said Susan Dunne had come into the post office with her son Patrick on Wednesday mornings for the previous three years to collect his disability allowance of €188 and that she was a very reserved woman, who never divulged much information.

“Susan would always have his social welfare card in her purse, take it out and give it to Patrick. I would leave the €188 on the counter, she would take it and give him €5 for himself,” she said.

The witness said Patrick came into the post office at 10.30am on November 27 and stood in the queue.

She said Patrick went to her mother at the other hatch as she was serving someone else. She never looked up to see if Susan Dunne was with her son.

McCarthy’s daughter rang her at 10.38am and told her that she had seen Patrick driving a green Corolla car with great difficulty.

“I said it couldn’t be him as he doesn’t drive, she said it was. I was very alarmed when I heard he was driving a car, I knew he shouldn’t be driving a car,” the witness said.

Neighbour Anthony McElhinney testified that his cousin arrived at his house on the morning of 27 November to inform him that something was wrong at the Dunne house.

McElhinny went inside the Dunne house and said the front bedroom was the only room he couldn’t get into and that there was no key. The witness went outside, unhooked the latch of the window and removed the curtains.

“I saw two feet out of the bottom of the bed and the rest of Susan’s remains had been covered,” he said.

McElhinney, who had First Aid experience, went back inside the house and kicked in the bedroom door.

He said it was clear that Susan Dunne was dead in the bed and that there was blood on the sheets, the wall and splatters of blood on the door frame. He rang Lixnaw Garda Station at 11.20am.

The trial resumes on Tuesday before Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of five men and seven women.