Man (38) admits manslaughter of grandmother

Olivia Kelleher

A man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his 82-year-old grandmother, who died two days after she was dragged down a flight of stairs in Carrigaline, Co Cork.

Bryan Nnadi Ogbo of Garrydhu Drive, Kilmoney Road, Carrigaline was arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty that on February 25th 2025, at Garrydhu Drive, Kilmoney Road, he did unlawfully kill Stella Ejiatu Nnadi, contrary to common law. He was living at the address with his grandmother Stella and his mother Ruby.

Defence senior counsel Jane Hyland said that her client had a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He didn’t have access to his depot injection medication during the period when the offence occurred.

She described the case as “tragic” indicating that the defendant was “very attached” to his grandmother and “unwell” at the time of the offence. She said that her client had been deemed fit to plead.

“I have a psychiatric report that he was fit to plead. The report was written in September. He has possibly deteriorated since then. But even so, I am satisfied that he does have the capacity to give instructions and to enter the plea he has entered today.”

Ms Hyland applied for the extension of free legal aid to allow for the preparation of a psychiatric report.

She also asked that a probation court be prepared and stated that it would be appropriate for the case to be adjourned until February of next year. Ms Hyland indicated that this would allow her to put certain steps in place prior to sentencing.

Judge Helen Boyle noted the extensive mental health difficulties of Mr Nnadi Ogbo. She extended the legal aid in the case to cover the psychiatric report and also directed the preparation of a probation and welfare service report. Judge Boyle told Mr Nnadi Ogbo to cooperate with the probation service while he is in custody. She also directed the preparation of a victim impact statement.

Mr Nnadi Ogbo was remanded in custody for sentencing on February 19th, 2026.

Meanwhile, Det Garda Tom Delaney gave an outline of the allegations in the case when it first came before Cork District Court earlier this year.

He said that it was alleged that Mr Nnadi Ogbo broke into the upstairs bedroom where his grandmother was located and dragged her out of the bedroom on February 23rd last.

“He dragged her downstairs. She was off her feet and being dragged headfirst down the stairs, and pushed her out of the house. She didn’t require hospitalisation at the time. However, Stella Nnadi deteriorated and was subsequently taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital on February 25th. She died later that afternoon.”

Det Garda Delaney said that a family member informed him that Mr Nnadi Ogbo had received a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He added that the defendant corroborated the facts of the case during his garda interview.

A post-mortem examination was carried out on Stella Ejiatu Nnadi at CUH by State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers. The results were not released for operational reasons. Ms Nnadi was a native of Nigeria.