Son found guilty, but insane, of father's murder

An Athlone man who killed his father in a frenzied knife attack was found guilty of murder but insane at the Central Criminal Court today.

Kevin Parker (aged 45) was sentenced by Justice Kevin O'Higgins to be detained in the Central Mental Hospital or a similar institution.

The jury of seven women and five men took just over 30 minutes to reach its verdict after a four-day trial, which heard Parker was in the grip of powerful delusions brought on by paranoid schizophrenia when he killed his father.

Parker, of an address at Montree House in Athlone, Co Westmeath, stabbed his father at least 20 times in the face and neck because he was convinced his father was the devil and he was God's chosen avenger.

He had pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Parker (aged 75) at Glasson Village between September 28 and 29 in 2000.

Before sentencing Parker, the judge described the case as an "awful human tragedy" and said schizophrenia did not discriminate between rich and poor, or nasty and nice people.

Parker's close-knit family, who have given him strong support since the killing, declined to comment on the verdict after leaving the court.

Since his mental illness took hold in 1997 following the death of his mother, Parker had changed from a cheerful and kind character to a withdrawn person obsessed with his religious visions and delusions that his father, other relatives and ex-girlfriends were part of a coven of witches leading a Satanic plot against him, the court heard.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Harry Kennedy told the court it was common for such delusions to involve those closest to the sufferer, and Parker was convinced he was doing the right thing when he killed his father because he thought he was going to destroy the world.

The court heard Parker had been in and out psychiatric institutions since 1997 and had been given anti-psychotic medication for his illness, but he had refused to take it for six-months before his attack, which allowed his delusions to flourish.

In a plea for more modern treatment of such cases, defence counsel Mr Martin Giblin SC said all parties involved were dealing with this tragedy under legal structures that were "somewhat antiquated".