Man not guilty due to insanity for stab attack on stranger

A MAN with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed a stranger in the head in a shopping centre has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Gerard Dowling, 40, was charged with the attempted murder of 60year-old Simon Bourke at Market Cross Shopping Centre in Kilkenny City on July 13, 2016. He was also charged with assaulting Mr Bourke causing him harm and to producing a knife during the same incident.

The trial heard that Mr Bourke and his partner were walking their dog when they noticed Mr Dowling, whom they did not know, following them. As they entered Market Cross Shopping Centre Dowling got very close, prompting Mr Bourke to say: ‘Excuse me friend, can I help you?’

Describing what followed Mr Bourke said: ‘He took the knife straight out and launched straight into it. He lashed a blow in to my shoulder and thereafter he rained down blows on my head.’

He fell to the ground while his partner fought off the attacker with her bag, knocking the knife from his hand. Following the attack doctors were unable to remove parts of the knife from Mr Bourke’s head. They remain there as doctors feared that removing the metal would be more dangerous than leaving it there.

Both the prosecution and defence agreed that Dowling was insane at the time of the assault. Justice Paul McDermott directed that Dowling, of The Sycamores, Freshford Road, Kilkenny, be admitted to the Central Mental Hospital. He will return to court on November 7 when a doctor from the CMH will present a report to the court and recommend appropriate ongoing treatment.