Wealthy New Yorker found not guilty of murdering father at Laois resort by reason of insanity

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Stephen Monks said the accused told him he had smoked a lot of weed in high school during his mid-teens but stopped doing so by the age of 20

In the lead-up to strangling his father, the defendant Henry McGowan (pictured) described experiencing impulsive behaviour such as buying a "conspicuous pink coat" in Harrods in London and renting a Lamborghini in Paris. File photo: ABC7NY.com

A wealthy New Yorker who strangled his father at a five-star midlands resort after the 66-year-old had travelled from the US on a "mission of mercy" to help his son has been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

The 12 jurors accepted evidence given by two psychiatrists that the accused Henry McGowan was suffering from schizoaffective disorder when he killed his father at the Ballyfin Demesne hotel and fulfilled the criteria for the special verdict.