Accused found insane in landmark ruling
A young Corkman facing trial on multiple counts of sexually assaulting children was found by a jury to be insane and sent to the Central Mental Hospital today.
In accordance with the provisions of a piece of law dating back over 200 years the man, who has not been convicted on any of the charges, will be incarcerated at the hospital in Dundrum for as long as the Government sees fit.
If today's order at Cork Circuit Criminal Court is never challenged or changed in the future the 20-year-old man will remain in custody in Dundrum for life.
A jury of seven men and five women was sworn in to decide on the issue of whether the accused man was insane or not. They took only six minutes to return a unanimous verdict of insanity.
Under Section 2 of the Criminal Lunatics Act of 1800, a person found insane by a jury cannot be put on trial for the offences with which he is charged and "it shall be lawful for the court to direct and order the person to be kept in custody until the pleasure of the government shall be known."
The accused cannot be named because the sexual offences he is charged with committing allegedly occurred close to where he lives. To identify the accused might identify the young complainants.
There were 29 charges on the indictment faced by the defendant yesterday relating to eleven girls and three boys between April 1997 and June 2000.
In this period the defendant was aged between 14 and 17.
Had the case gone to trial it would have been alleged that the defendant sexually assaulted children aged between 5 and 10 years old on various different dates.
It would have been claimed that he touched their private parts inside and outside their clothes. It would not have been alleged that physical violence was used.
The complainants were relatives or neighbours of the accused in Co Cork.
Psychiatrists called by the defence and prosecution were in agreement that the accused would be incapable of understanding a trial, instructing a solicitor or objecting to the swearing in of particular jurors.
When the jury made the unanimous finding that he was mentally unfit to plead, Judge Patrick J Moran remanded the accused in custody to the Central Mental Hospital.
