Ian Harman.

Jailed for eight years for killing elderly man on psych unit

A man who admitted killing an elderly bachelor in a County Cavan psychiatric unit has been jailed for eight years.
Ian Harman (50) with an address at Carrickallen, Mountain Lodge, Cootehill, Co Cavan, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Michael Treanor (82) at the Psychiatric Unit of Cavan General Hospital, Lisdarn, Co Cavan on June 27, 2011.
On the eighth day of his trial last July, Harman was re-arraigned before the Central Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Paddy McCarthy, SC prosecuting, told the court that the plea was acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis of Section 6 of the Criminal Law Insanity Act.
Under the Act, the jury or court may find the person not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility.
Mr Treanor was suffering from dementia and Harman was admitted to the unit on June 20, 2011, as a voluntary patient after attempting suicide.
The court heard that on June 27, 2011, Harman got up on Mr Treanor’s bed and used a belt and a pillow to kill him.
Today Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan handed down a ten-year sentence but suspended the final two years and backdated it to June 28, 2011, for time spent in custody.
The judge said the mitigating circumstances were his remorse, his plea of guilty, his admission at the start of the trial that he killed Mr Traenor and his co-operation with the garda investigation and psychiatrists.
He also noted certificates he obtained while in prison including one for having successfully completed the Samaritan Listener scheme course, a workshop in Alternatives to Violence and First Aid.
“In a case such as this where the offender was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the offence, the court is also particularly mindful of its duty to protect the public,' said Mr Justice Sheehan.
He also ordered that Harman co-operate with an integrated sentence management programme, to be put in place for him when he goes back to prison and that he undergo two years post-release supervision.

Victim Impact
In a victim impact statement read at a sentencing hearing by the prosecution last Monday, the deceased’s nephew, Michael McKenna, said the system had favoured the defendant.
“The last two years has been a difficult journey for us. We accept that due process is central to the judicial system and that every citizen is entitled to a fair and impartial trial,” said Mr McKenna.
“However we feel strongly that the system has favoured the defendant with the whole focus being on mitigation and legal wrangling and little about the victim or victims,” he said.
“Somehow among the legalities Mick our uncle has dissipated. He was a fine country gentleman. He loved life. Horseracing and hunting were among his main interests. He had a keen sense of wit and appreciated more than anything the outdoors and freedom that working the land gave him,” he added.
Harman, who is originally from England, was suffering from depression and smothered the elderly man with a pillow after strangling him with a belt. He told staff immediately what he had done.
His legal team argued he was not guilty of murder either by reason insanity or diminished responsibility.
Caroline Biggs, SC with Breffni Gordon BL instructed by Damien Rudden solicitors, claimed Harman was suffering from a mental illness as an anti-psychotic medication he was taking had been withdrawn the day after he was admitted to the unit.
During the trial two defence witnesses Consultant psychiatrist Dr Bob Johnson and clinical pharmacologist Dr Andrew Herxheimer claimed that the withdrawal of Olanzapine caused him to suffer from Akathisia - an inability to sleep, making him feel suicidal and pace up and down the unit constantly in the days before the killing.
Dr Johnson said Harman’s responsibility for the killing was not only diminished, it was destroyed and that he was unable to refrain from the act meaning he was insane.
Consultant psychiatrist Professor Jogin Thakore testified during the trial that there was no evidence that Olanzapine, when abruptly stopped, caused Akathisia.
He testified that withdrawal akathisia it was not a mental disorder under the Insanity Act.
Detective Garda Eileen Higgins told Mr McCarthy that Harman had moved to Ireland over 10 years ago as his wife was a Cavan native and they have one teenage daughter. The court heard the couple was now divorcing.
Det Gda Higgins said that he had been employed by Cavan County Council and had no previous convictions in Ireland.
However Interpol had informed gardai that he had a number of previous convictions in the UK but they had been committed so long ago they had been quashed.
Mr McCarthy told the court that “fantasising about a way of getting imprisoned” had appeared to be the motive for the killing.
In mitigation Ms Biggs said it was a most unusual case where the withdrawal of medication had caused a mental disorder.
She said medical and nursing notes described Mr Harman as distraught and suicidal.
Harman who had not slept in two days had been captured on CCTV walking around for more than eight hours trying to tire himself out, she added.
Ms Biggs said character references showed Harman had a good work record and was described as a gentleman by many.
Counsel said he had a history of alcohol abuse, depression and a borderline personality disorder with one report describing him as “remorseful and utterly guilt ridden”.
Ms Biggs asked the court to take account of his plea of guilty, his co-operation with the psychological services and gardaí, admitting he caused death.
She also said her client had a good work history, was loved by his family members and was more than willing to engage in rehabilitation.
She said Harman felt he was not ready to be released and was more than willing to engage in rehabilitation.
She asked the court to consider suspending part of his sentence on condition that he engage in rehabilitation.