Solicitor who stabbed father 27 times found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity

A 31-year-old lawyer with a strong academic pedigree who stabbed his father 27 times during a psychotic episode has been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity following a short trial at the Central Criminal Court.Dáire McCormack-George’s trial heard that he retained the love and support of his family and a wide circle of friends. His sister Hillary and mother Goretti attended every day of the court proceedings, joined at times by other family and friends.McCormack-George stabbed his father, Scott George, 27 times during a relapse of schizoaffective disorder. The relapse had coincided with a reduction in the dosage of antipsychotic medication he was being prescribed.He had first been diagnosed with a mental-health disorder in 2018 but appeared to have reacted well to treatment. However, entries in a journal that he wrote in the days leading up to the killing revealed he had developed a psychotic delusion that his father, who was frail and housebound, was going to kill Goretti and Hillary. READ MOREHe came to believe that he had to kill his father to save them, the trial heard. McCormack-George told psychiatrists that during the attack, his father told him he loved him, but he “just kept stabbing him”. Following the verdict, members of the family hugged one another and shook hands with lawyers for the prosecution and defence.McCormack-George, with an address at Cabra Road, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of his 76-year-old father. George died at his home at Drumans End, Tobersool, Balbriggan on December 12th, 2024.Lawyers for both sides had urged the jury to return the special verdict after two psychiatrists gave evidence that as a result of his mental disorder, McCormack-George should not be held responsible for his actions.Judge Eileen Creedon thanked the jury of 10 men and two women for their attention to what she described as a “sad and difficult case”. She exempted them from further service for five years.She remanded McCormack-George to the Central Mental Hospital until August 13th when a doctor will outline the ongoing psychiatric treatment he requires. In his closing speech on Thursday, defending barrister Michael Bowman told the jury that psychiatrists called by the defence and the prosecution agreed McCormack-George was suffering from a schizoaffective disorder at the time of the killing. They were also satisfied that as a result of that disorder, he met the criteria for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.Bowman said the tragedy of such cases was often that those closest to the person suffering the disorder are most likely to put themselves in harm’s way. For Hillary and her mother, they have suffered the loss of a father and husband, but they are also suffering the loss of a brother and son since McCormack-George went into custody, counsel said. McCormack George was, Bowman said, a brilliant academic who was obviously the pride and joy of his father, mother and sister.He came from a loving family and loved his father very much. Prosecuting barrister Vincent Heneghan described it as a “sad and tragic case”. “You’d want to be made of stone and have little or no human empathy if you didn’t have sympathy in this case,” he said.The judge told the jury a verdict of guilty of murder would be contrary to the expert medical evidence they had heard. She asked the jury to return a verdict in accordance with the evidence.