Man who stabbed woman to death found guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility
Seán Egan was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on evidence that was largely psychiatric, File picture: Larry Cummins
A 34-year-old woman who was described as a loving mother was stabbed to death by her ‘on/off’ partner in what was described as a brutal tragedy and now he has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Eight women and four men took three hours of deliberation on evidence that was largely psychiatric before reaching their unanimous verdict. Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork that it was a difficult case for a jury and in particular it was difficult for the family of the deceased.
39-year-old Seán Egan of Lios Na Slí, Rathmiles, Portarlington, County Laois, was charged with murdering 34-year-old Sharon Crean at College Avenue, Mountmellick, County Laois on December 14, 2022, and now he has been found guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Seán Egan was remanded in custody until April 13 after defence barrister David Fleming applied for an updated psychiatric report on the defendant.
It was explained that a sentencing date will be arranged on April 13 and that the imposition of sentence would be on a further date after that. Ms Justice Lankford said there would be an opportunity for the family of the deceased to give their victim impact evidence.
Garret Baker, prosecution senior counsel, explained to the jury at the outset of the case that it was open to them to return a verdict of guilty or not guilty of murder but that it was open to the defence to put up a partial defence of diminished responsibility where it is argued that a person did the killing but was suffering a mental disorder, and was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
A fourth option, not sought by the defence or the prosecution and not supported by psychiatric evidence, was a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
“This prosecution involves the allegation of murder of Sharon Crean in the late afternoon of December 14, 2022, at her home in College Avenue, Mountmellick.
She was born in August 1987 and was 35 when she lost her life due to the acts of horrific violence perpetrated by Seán Egan.
“He was her on/off partner. She was stabbed multiple times by Seán Egan using a flick knife with a nine-centimeter blade and also struck with a Himalayan rock candle holder.
“Ms Crean was discovered in the doorway of her apartment by concerned neighbours. She was conscious but her condition rapidly deteriorated. Both neighbours and paramedics treated her but she succumbed to her injuries and died that afternoon.
“There were at least 15 sharp force injuries to Ms Crean’s body. At least 13 were identified as stab wounds… A number of stab wounds entered the chest cavity and were fatal.
"There were no obvious defence wounds… The cause of death was stab wounds to the chest. There were no contributory factors.
“Seán Egan was not present. He had left the scene. He arrived back as she was being treated. He said to gardaí, ‘I did it to give my son a better life’. He said he used a flick-knife. The knife was in his right pocket.
"He was arrested and made various comments at the scene. He said he was ‘delighted to have sorted her out’.”
Mr Baker said that in the course of interview, Seán Egan expressed views that were thoroughly investigated and found to be baseless and devoid of reality. In fact, Mr Baker returned to this point with some emphasis in his closing speech to the jury too.
He said that, if nothing else, this trial would restore her reputation and memory and leave her entirely vindicated against all the unfounded allegations made against her by Seán Egan.
Consultant psychiatrists called by both the prosecution and defence were in agreement that Seán Egan was suffering from a mental disorder at the time he killed Sharon Crean.
In their reports he was variously described as being "impervious to reason", "psychotic at time of interview’" having "paranoid psychosis" and "persecution delusions… and needed to protect his child", was suffering a "fixed delusion belief system", "a psychotic disorder with potential diagnosis of schizophrenia", and "psychotic disorder interfering with his capacity for rational judgement".
Memos of garda interviews with the accused included long narratives from the defendant which lacked coherence.
Seán Egan said: “I know it was a serious thing… For what it is worth, I did love her… (weapon) a locked knife out of Lidl or Aldi. I went back upstairs and threw it in my work bag…. Taking the knife out as a deterrent, I was going to use it as a fear factor.
“I said, right, this is the time. I picked up the candlestick and cracked it over the head… I stabbed her two or three times in the side… I went in jest with the knife… She said, please, please… At no point I thought her life was took.
“Up until I struck her I did not think I would do it. I can’t believe she is dead. I did not know I was penetrating her. I never stabbed anyone. If I can change the clocks I would wind them back.
"At the same time she is a great mother. Every rose has a thorn. She could not see that.”
Defence senior counsel, Padraig Dwyer, said of Seán Egan: “He killed her in a psychotic rage. I know a lot of people will say he is still alive and she is not. No one is here to exonerate him.
"We are not saying, not guilty of murder or not guilty by reason of insanity. We are saying he had a disorder that is less than insanity…He would be criminalised for manslaughter.”
Mr Dwyer said that Seán Egan in his own words said: “I took the knife. I knew I needed to end this."
The defence senior counsel said: “All of the evidence — from the moment this killing occurred and prior to it having occurred — all the evidence points to this man suffering a psychotic delusion that his child was in danger… from Ms Crean.
"And you know that nothing could be further from the truth… The child was deeply loved by the two of them… But it is a brutally tragic case. You would have to be mentally ill to think Ms Crean was anything but a loving mother.
“He was responsible for the act but his responsibility was diminished.”
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