'Gentleman' cried out for help while being stabbed during fatal assault, court hears
Eoin Reynolds
A mother told gardaí of the moment a 65-year-old "gentleman", who had taken her into his home after learning she was living in her car, cried out for help while being stabbed repeatedly in the neck by her son.
The Central Criminal Court trial of Brian Ibe (23), who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Peter Kennedy, also heard from a consultant psychiatrist who diagnosed the accused with schizophrenia. Dr Gauruv Malhan said that as a result of his mental disorder, Mr Ibe was unable to refrain from killing Mr Kennedy.
Mr Kennedy was assaulted at his home on April 28th, 2020, and died from his injuries about two weeks later, on May 12th. Paul Carroll SC, for the prosecution, has previously told the jury that there is no contest that Mr Ibe attacked Mr Kennedy and that the older man died as a result.
The prosecution further contends that Mr Ibe is not "within the ingredients" of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act.
Mr Carroll read Martha Ibe's statement into the record at her son's trial on Thursday. Ms Ibe said she had lost contact with Brian in 2014 when she became homeless and began living in a car.
She had known Peter Kennedy for years and described him as a "lovely man" and a "kind gentleman". Two weeks before Christmas in 2018, when he found out she was living in her car, Mr Kennedy invited her to live with him.
The following year, they met Brian while out having coffee, and Mr Kennedy invited him to also live in the house. However, Ms Ibe said Brian was smoking "weed", and after a few weeks, he began arguing with her and becoming aggressive for no reason.
One day in the lead up to Christmas 2019 Mr Kennedy asked Brian if he was "ok", and Mr Ibe "freaked out", she said and "got up in Peter's face", shouting: "I will get you, I will kill you." Mr Ibe threw cigarettes around the house, trying to set it on fire, she said.
Mr Kennedy had enough and called the gardaí, who told Mr Ibe he would have to leave. Mr Ibe agreed and moved to a hostel in Dublin run by the Peter McVerry Trust. Martha Ibe said she moved back to her car, but after a short time, Mr Kennedy allowed her to return to the house.
On April 28th, 2020, the day Ms Ibe gave her statement, she said she was watching a DVD in her bedroom when she heard glass smashing. Mr Kennedy ran from another room, shouting, "Come quick, I think it's Brian" and went to walk past Ms Ibe into the bedroom. It was then that she saw her son coming up the stairs holding a knife with a 5 or 6 inch blade.
She said her son "zoomed past me to get to Peter" and began "pushing the knife with a jabbing motion, at least six times, into Peter's neck."
She said Mr Kennedy cried, "help me, Martha, ring the guards!" while she shouted at her son to stop. She ran downstairs and struggled to open the front door, fearing that her son was coming behind her. Once outside, she ran to a neighbour's house for help and phoned gardaí. She didn't see her son again.
Following the close of the prosecution evidence, Dr Malhan was called by defence counsel Conor Devally SC. He told Mr Devally that he interviewed the accused, looked at his personal and medical history and considered various statements in the book of evidence.
From his assessment, he said he formed the opinion that Mr Ibe had developed a schizophrenic illness before the assault on Mr Kennedy.
He said there was evidence that Mr Ibe had become isolated and withdrawn and had been suffering delusions. He was hearing voices in his head and had told his mother about gangs of "devil worshippers" living in Dublin.
Dr Malhan said Mr Ibe appeared to have been using cannabis as a form of self-medication to quieten the voices or reduce his feelings of paranoid anxiety.
Dr Malhan said he is aware that another psychiatrist, Dr Mary Davoren, had found that Mr Ibe has a dissocial personality disorder rather than schizophrenia.
Dr Malhan said he agreed that there is evidence of a dissocial disorder, given that Mr Ibe had a history of getting into fights, damaging property, being argumentative and taking drugs and alcohol at a young age.
However, he said a lot of people have schizophrenia alongside a dissociative disorder. In Mr Ibe's case, he said he believes psychiatrists must first treat his schizophrenia and then "see what is left".
Dr Malhan said he had also considered whether Mr Ibe might have been suffering from a cannabis-induced psychosis. He said you would expect the symptoms of such a psychosis to resolve after 28 days, while Mr Ibe's symptoms have continued despite his being in custody without access to cannabis.
Dr Malhan concluded that at the time of the assault, Mr Ibe was undergoing a schizophrenic psychosis and was unable to refrain from his actions. He said it is difficult to make sense of Mr Ibe's actions, but he believes that the accused's psychosis resulted in "disinhibited behaviour".
Mr Ibe, of no fixed abode but formerly of Moore Park, Newbridge has also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assault causing harm to Garda Brendan O’Donnell at Newbridge Garda Station on or about April 29th, 2020.
