Cork man found guilty of manslaughter of elderly patient by reason of diminished responsibility

The defence told the jury: 'Effectively, the issue is about mental disorder and the impact it had on what occurred.'

The court was told Dylan Magee 'was slowly losing contact with reality'. File picture: Dan Linehan

A 33-year-old hospital patient with delirium who punched another patient — an 88-year-old man — to death in the early hours of the morning in the room which they shared was this afternoon found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The eight men and four women of the jury took two hours and 33 minutes of deliberations on Thursday to deliver their unanimous verdict.