Inquest calls for change in law

A JURY in the inquest of a man who left a suicide note full of religious references recommended a change in the law that would have allowed his family to be informed of his mental state.

The jurors also asked the coroner to write to a self-styled Christian “church” of which the deceased was a member, relaying his family’s concerns about its influence on him. The International Church of Christ was invited to attend the inquest yesterday but no representative turned up.

Niall MacMahon, a 40-year-old married man and university graduate, died when he threw himself in front of the Dublin to Belfast train on March 2 last year, four days after being discharged from a psychiatric ward in a Dublin hospital.

His family said they only found out after he died about a failed suicide attempt weeks earlier because the hospital, St James’s, was obliged by patient confidentiality legislation not to divulge his condition — even though he was released to spend weekends with them during his treatment.

“We had no notion how serious his condition was. We thought he was being treated for mild depression,” his brother, Declan MacMahon said. “They [the hospital] could have taken us aside and said keep an eye on him, he is in a delicate state. We feel very annoyed about that and disappointed in the hospital in that regard. We cannot change what happened but we would like to see the law changed.”

Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell said he had written to St James’s to ask one of the doctors in charge of Mr MacMahon’s case to attend the inquest but the doctor was on holidays.

The jury recorded a verdict that Mr MacMahon died by taking his own life and added a recommendation that families should be informed if a person close to them was a danger to themselves. They asked Dr Farrell to convey their views to St James’s and the Medical Council, and also asked that the International Church of Christ be written to.

A St James’s Hospital spokesperson said they could not discuss the case because of patient confidentiality but offered to pursue the issue further with the MacMahon family if they wished.