Harty trial hears defendant 'very vulnerable'

A 30 year-old Galway man accused of murdering his cousin was “a very vulnerable person” with a mild to moderate mental handicap, a defence witness told a jury at the Central Criminal Court today.

The jury has heard evidence from consultant clinical psychologist Ms Deirdre O’Donnell that the accused, Mr Patrick Harty, had a “mild to moderate range of mental handicap” and only performed better than 1 per cent of his age cohorts in intelligence tests.