Complaint lodged over handling of evidence in Deirdre Morley's trial for her children's murder
Andrew McGinley: 'Full details about the medication Ms Morley was on and how much she was consuming should have been heard at her trial.' File picture: Colin Keegan
A man whose three children were killed by their mother has lodged a formal complaint to the DPP about ​t​he State prosecutor's handling of evidence at her trial.
Andrew McGinley has lodged his complaint on four grounds, including one which covers issues he has around what medication Deirdre Morley was taking when she killed Conor, 9, Darragh, 7, and Carla, 3, at their Dublin home while suffering a psychotic episode.
He believes ​detailed evidence about the ​v​ariety ​and doses of prescription drugs she was taking ​should have been heard ​in detail in ​h​is ex-wife's trial​. ​That this didn't happen has led, he believes, to an “incomplete and inaccurate” narrative around the death of ​t​he couple's children.
Ms Morley​ killed Conor, Darragh, and Carla at their home in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on January 24, 2020. An autopsy later found the children died by suffocation.
​T​he former paediatric nurse​ was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2021 following a trial at the Central Criminal Court.​ ​ “Full details about the medication Ms Morley was on and how much she was consuming should have been heard at her trial,” ​said M​r McGinley.
“I want evidence that was not used in the trial to be used at the forthcoming inquest, because I believe it goes a long way to explain what happened and why.”Â
He added: “I am particularly concerned about prescription medication found in our home in the name of two other people. ​I​ only discovered this for the first time in August 2025 through the documentation released for my children’s inquests.”
Mr McGinley plans to raise issues around Ms Morley’s medication when expert evidence in relation to adverse psychiatric effects associated with general use of prescribed antidepressant medication is raised at his children’s forthcoming inquests.
Mr McGinley has also submitted to the coroner that his ex-wife’s treatment by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services and Clondalkin Community Mental Health Services as far back as two years before she killed the children should be addressed at the inquest.
Despite this submission, senior Dublin District Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane has since said she doesn’t regard this “necessary or permissible in the context of the legitimate scope of these inquests". She made this decision after receiving submissions from a number of interested parties, including the HSE.
Barristers for the agency have stated that seeking the extension of the scope of the inquest to cover the medical treatment of Ms Morley for a period of two years is “beyond the scope of an inquest”.
The fact that Mr McGinley wants this evidence heard would, the HSE’s barristers told the coroner, “necessitate not only an examination of the medical treatment but also a consideration and determination as to its adequacy”.
They said this meant Mr McGinley is “seeking an inquiry of a radically different nature”.
An application has been put into the High Court by ​l​awyers for Ms Morley for a judicial review of the coroner’s decision to limit the scope of the inquests.
​T​hey have argued the inquests would be "insufficient and inadequate" if they did not assess the state of her mental health at the time of the killings through evidence from those who treated her in the six months before th​eir deaths.
Mr McGinley is campaigning — among other things — for it to be mandatory for people to be involved in the mental health treatment of their partners in relationships where there are children.
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