[[{“value”:”
Brian Ibe (23) has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Peter Kennedy
Brian Ibe (23) has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Peter Kennedy, who had taken Mr Ibe’s mother into his home after learning that she was sleeping in her car. Mr Kennedy also took the accused man into his home for some months in 2019 but asked him to leave after Mr Ibe became aggressive and threatened him.
On April 28, 2020, Mr Ibe took a taxi from the Peter McVerry Trust hostel where he was living in Walkinstown in Dublin to Mr Kennedy’s home in Moore Park, Newbridge, Co Kildare. He broke into the house by smashing a window and assaulted Mr Kennedy, who died from his injuries in hospital two weeks later, on May 12.
Paul Carroll SC, for the prosecution, has previously told the jury that the State’s case is that Mr Ibe was not “within the ingredients” of the special insanity or diminished responsibility verdicts under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act. The trial is taking place at the Central Criminal Court.
Dr Stephen Monks, a consultant psychiatrist, today told defence counsel Daniel O’Connell BL that he interviewed Mr Ibe and analysed the book of evidence, details about Mr Ibe’s background and his medical records since he went into custody in 2020.
He diagnosed Mr Ibe with schizophrenia, a mental disorder. At the time of the assault on Mr Kennedy, Dr Monks said the accused had active symptoms of schizophrenia and had entered an acute psychotic state.
He said Mr Ibe’s psychotic state was a significant contributing factor to the assault and without the psychosis, it is unlikely the assault would have happened.
Due to his delusions, including voices in his head telling him to kill Mr Kennedy, Dr Monks said it is possible that Mr Ibe did not understand the nature and quality of his actions. Under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, Dr Monks said his opinion is that the court could consider that Mr Ibe meets the criteria for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Dr Monks said it appeared that Mr Ibe’s symptoms had evolved from June 2018 when he was homeless for a period and smoking cannabis. The expert witness cited statements by Mr Ibe’s mother, Martha Ibe, who described her son as a happy teenager with many friends. After June 2018, she described him as “an entirely different character”, irritable, prone to aggression and becoming socially isolated.
Mr Ibe also told his mother of bizarre beliefs, including that there were gangs of devil worshippers in Dublin.
Dr Monks said it would appear that the stress of becoming homeless, with the use of cannabis, triggered the onset of Mr Ibe’s first schizophrenic psychosis in 2018.
Dr Monks said the description of Mr Ibe’s changing behaviour and personality around that time are consistent with the development of schizophrenia in a young person.
In interviews with psychiatrists after he went into custody following the assault on Mr Kennedy, Mr Ibe initially denied hearing voices or any other psychotic symptoms. After a period of taking antipsychotic medication, Dr Monks said the accused became less guarded and began to disclose delusional beliefs, including that his mother had placed a microchip in his ear or brain when he was six years old. Mr Ibe said the chip caused the voices in his head, which he said told him to kill Mr Kennedy.
This “bizarre delusional belief” is, Dr Monks explained, a “narrative through which he can explain the disintegration of his cognitive function, the loss of control over his mental processes.”
Since going into custody, Mr Ibe has been taking medication regularly, resulting in a change in his behaviour and a reduction of his symptoms, Dr Monks said.
It would be “very difficult” for Mr Ibe to have feigned his symptoms, Dr Monks said, and there is “no coherence” to a suggestion that Mr Ibe fooled multiple psychiatrists and a psychologist who tested him for evidence of exaggerating or feigning.
Dr Monks also disagreed with Dr Mary Davoren, a psychiatrist whom the prosecution will call. The jury has heard that Dr Davoren disagrees with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and found Mr Ibe to have a dissocial personality disorder.
Dr Monks said he would not expect Mr Ibe’s symptoms to improve under medication if he had a personality disorder rather than a psychotic illness. He said his opinion remained unchanged after reading Dr Davoren’s report.
Under cross-examination, Dr Monks told senior counsel for the prosecution, Paul Carroll, that lies told by Mr Ibe during his garda interviews 24 hours after the assault on Mr Kennedy did not change his diagnosis. He said lies told to gardai do not have any bearing on the “bigger picture” and there are “copious amounts of evidence for this man’s mental illness”.
Mr Ibe, of no fixed abode but formerly of Moore Park, Newbridge has also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assault causing harm to Garda Brendan O’Donnell at Newbridge Garda Station on or about April 29, 2020. Gda O’Donnell has testified that Mr Ibe became uncooperative and aggressive during his detention and punched him, leaving him with a bloody nose and a bruise under his eye.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Melanie Greally and a jury of six men and six women.
“}]] The stress of becoming homeless along with cannabis use may have triggered the first schizophrenic episode in a young man who later fatally assaulted a 65-… Read More
