Cork man convicted of killing elderly hospital patient has sentencing adjourned

Sentencing of Dylan Magee for the manslaughter of Matthew Healy will happen on March 27

Jury found Dylan Magee not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Picture: Dan Linehan

The 33-year-old hospital patient who punched an 88-year-old man, who was also a patient, to death, in the early hours of the morning in the room they shared at Mercy University Hospital had sentencing in his case adjourned on Monday until March 27.

A jury of eight men and four women at the Central Criminal Court in Cork last month reached a unanimous verdict, finding Dylan Magee, of 30 Churchfield Green, Cork, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. 

The killing occurred on January 22, 2023, at Room 2, St Joseph’s Ward, Mercy University Hospital, and the victim was Matthew Healy.

The late Mr Healy’s family will have an opportunity to describe the impact his killing had on the family through a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing.

Jane Hyland, senior counsel for the prosecution, had sought a four-week adjournment for sentencing when the matter was mentioned on Monday. However, the defence sought a longer adjournment. Defence barrister Abigail Creed said they required up to 12 weeks to allow time for a probation report.

Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford remanded the accused in continuing custody until March 27.

Last month, when the verdict was delivered, defence senior counsel Brendan Grehan said: “Mr Magee wants at the earliest available opportunity to express his deep remorse for what happened Mr Healy and the distress he obviously caused to his family and friends.” 

Matthew Healy was killed at the Mercy Hospital in January 2023.

Mr Grehan said in terms of the report on the accused for the sentencing hearing, the defence would ask for the two psychiatrists’ reports — that formed a central part of the trial — to be considered at sentence.

Prosecution and defence lawyers in this trial agreed verdicts of guilty or not guilty to murder were effectively “not on the table”, and the issue for the jury was “in the middle ground of mental disorder". 

Prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland and defence senior counsel Brendan Grehan both agreed on this matter in their closing speeches to the jury at the Central Criminal Court.

Ms Justice Lankford told the jury before they commenced their deliberations they could well take the view that 33-year-old Dylan Magee, who was admitted to hospital for treatment for delirium, and 88-year-old Matthew Healy, who had a fall at home, were both let down by the system.

Mr Grehan said: “Effectively, the issue is about mental disorder and the impact it had on what occurred. No one can take away the awful tragedy that befell Mr Healy and his family. The only thing for which we can be a small bit grateful is that he was asleep and hopefully was knocked out by the first blow. At almost 89 and having recently buried his wife.

“Dylan Magee was slowly losing contact with reality… For reasons we don’t quite understand, Dylan Magee was put into a ward with a number of elderly patients when he was clearly showing mental health symptoms of delirium, with which he was diagnosed — hearing voices, hallucinating, seeing dead people, behaving in a hyper manner.

“The two worlds collided after 5am that morning when the unfortunate Mr Healy was asleep in bed. Dylan Magee developed a fixation that he [the deceased] was his uncle, which he was not… that Mr Healy had eaten his child, killed him or kidnapped him. And that he was [named man] in his 20s.

“[Outside the room after the fatal attack] one nurse described the accused as looking like he did the right thing here, looking like he thought he had done a good thing. You are dealing with a mind that was clearly disturbed.”