Man found not guilty of killing father by reason of insanity

A Tipperary man who shot his father dead at the family home was found not guilty by reason of insanity at the Central Criminal Court today.

Paul Lane (aged 25) with an address at Ballydavid, Littleton, Co.Tipperary shot his father Michael Christopher Lane also known as Christie Lane (aged 50) twice, once in the stomach and once in the arm with his brothers shotgun.

The court heard that Lane retrieved the double barrelled shotgun from his brothers bedroom and entered the sitting room where his father and mother sat watching Tipperary play in the All-Ireland Minor Hurley Final and fired the two shots,ignoring his father’s pleas.

The jury of eight women and four men returned with their verdict at 3pm having deliberated for just under an hour. Mr Justice George Birmingham told the jury they had clearly reached the appropriate verdict and thanked them for their service.

Earlier to-day the court heard evidence from Consultant Psychiatrist for the defence Dr Connor O’Neill who diagnosed the accused as suffering from schizophrenia exhibiting symptoms such as paranoid delusions, delusions of control and hallucinations.

Dr O’Neill told the jury that Paul Lane’s illness began developing at the age of 20 when he started hearing voices. He said Mr Lane had a family history of mental illness and had smoked cannabis in the past but had stopped because it made him paranoid and made him hear voices. He wasn’t using the drug at the time of the shooting.

Dr O’Neill told the court Paul Lane was currently being treated with a form of psychotic medication reserved only for the most severe form of schizophrenia that is otherwise untreatable.

The jury were told that in the months leading up to the shooting the accused was suffering from paranoid delusions believing that people on the television and his neighbours were talking about him.

In the weeks before the incident Dr O’Neill said Mr Lane was becoming increasingly uncomfortable at home and went to Germany with a friend but returned home after a week.

On the day of the shooting Paul Lane believed he was possessed and he heard his father’s voice telling him he was going to hell.

He told Dr O’Neil he thought his father was going to kill him because he couldn’t get close to him as a son.

Dr O’Neill said that Mr Lane also suffered from religious delusions and told him: "The good forces left me and the dark forces took over."

Defence Counsel David Kennedy SC described the incident as ‘an unspeakable tragedy’ and 'every mother’s worst nightmare’ in his closing speech.

He said: "No one in their right mind would do what Paul Lane did and shoot their father in front of their family in such a horrific way."

Mr Kennedy SC told the jury there was no dispute that at the time of the shooting Mr Lane was suffering acute symptoms of severe schizophrenia.

He said both Dr Helen O’Neill Consultant Psychiatrist for the prosecution and Dr Connor O’Neil agreed completely that Paul Lane had an irresistible impulse and was unable to resist doing the act.

Mr Justice Birmingham directed that Paul Lane be committed to the Central Mental Hospital until further order. He expressed his sympathy to the Lane family for what they had been through saying: "It has obviously been an appalling tragedy."