To prevent more terrible tragedies, we must be able to spot those who need help

THE 2001 expiry date on the butter in the fridge revealed that Tim O’Sullivan’s body had probably been lying under a duvet in his bed for more than two decades. As locals tripped daily past his terraced cottage on a busy street in Mallow, they were totally oblivious to his death.

Naturally, the discovery of his decayed corpse came as a huge shock, not only to the council workers clearing his house, but the entire community of the north Cork town. Those who remembered him described him this week as ‘private’ and ‘reclusive’.

The 60-year-old, born to a couple from south Kerry, was the eldest of five children but the family emigrated to the UK in the 1930s. It’s here that Tim was raised, but after his marriage broke up, and for reasons unknown, he decided to move to Mallow and bought a small house on Beecher Street in 1989.

He lived there for more than a decade but it’s clear he made very few, if any, strong friendships or connections in the area. Because by the time people noticed he was no longer going in and out of his house, or spotted in any of the local shops, it was presumed he had returned to the UK.

Tragically, various members of his family did come looking for him, as their statement explained on Thursday.

Unable to get into his house ‘without breaking and entering,’ they contacted the ‘authorities who said that the matter was looked into thoroughly, that there was nobody living in the house and that from investigations made locally, it was certain that he had returned to the UK.’

The family also addressed reports that ‘Tim struggled with his mental health’.

‘But really it was more a man with a broken heart, who wished for privacy and time to be alone to come to terms with his separation, as was his right,’ they insisted.

Of course, questions need to be asked about how, when it was decided to board up Mr O’Sullivan’s decaying house, that nobody went in there to have a poke around.

And in a town of just over 10,000 people, it must be unsettling to think that a man could die in his bed and no one would be any the wiser for more than 20 years – and that as the years went on, his house was simply considered derelict and bored teenagers started throwing stones through the windows prompting someone (it’s not known who yet) to board them up.

That his family continued to try to contact him, calling at his door but then finally being persuaded that he had moved away and no longer wanted to speak to them, when all the time he was inside – it’s all so distressing.

But some people opt out of taking part in the community where they live. It might be difficult for others to understand, but it’s possible to be happy in your own company.

However, there are also regrettable reasons as to why someone chooses, or feels unable, to mix.

As his family said in their statement, it was reported that Tim suffered from depression to the point that he was hospitalised for treatment at St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire, Cork.

In the last few years there has been tremendous work done in recognising, treating or just talking about mental health issues.

Indeed, it can feel at times that there are few people who haven’t been touched by some form of depression – especially in the wake of the pandemic.

It’s quite normal now to admit to feeling down or that you’re struggling to cope with day-to-day life. And there are countless books and TV and radio shows, not to mention podcasts, constantly discussing the various obstacles those susceptible to depression might face and suggesting ways to deal with them.

Which is all great, as those suffering should know that they aren’t alone. But what about when mental health issues tip over into something far more serious, such as disorders that can lead people to kill, often those to whom they are closest?

There are some very recent and shocking incidents of someone losing their life, where it’s suspected the perpetrator was mentally disturbed, but are now before the courts so the matter cannot be discussed.

However, you don’t ever have to go too far back to find other examples of equally distressing deaths. Just last week, Christina Anderson pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility for stabbing Gareth Kelly to death in February 2020.

The mother-of-three has been a patient at the Central Mental Hospital since killing the 39-yearold over a car parking space at her home in Dublin 22. During the trial it emerged that Anderson, a habitual cannabis user, had suffered bouts of depression, began seeing psychiatrists in 2017 and was given medication.

Then there is the case of Deirdre Morley, also now in the care of the Central Mental Hospital, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of her children Conor, nine, Darragh, seven, and three-year-old Carla at their home in Newcastle, Dublin, in January 2020.

Last year, both she and her former husband, Andrew McGinley, issued medical negligence actions against the HSE in relation to her care.

There are loads more. People who are not bad or evil, just very, very ill and didn’t get the treatment they needed. And it’s that ability to tell when someone has reached a point where they’ve become a danger to themselves or others that is key to preventing horrific episodes from which there is no coming back.

Because there will always be the mentally ill people who will probably never be cured, only ever managed. But with an overstretched health service like we have in this country, people will continue to fall through the cracks with tragic results.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever know how it was possible for Tim O’Sullivan to lie in his bed undiscovered for over 20 years. It certainly raises uncomfortable questions. But there is a chance he was happy to be left alone, that his sorrow at the break-up of his marriage felt insurmountable to him and this was his way of coping. Regardless, it’s an intensely sad tale, one you hope won’t be repeated.