Man in fatal jail clash before killing mother
Prison off icer died after row with inmate later tried for murder
THE young man found not guilty of murdering his mother by reason of insanity was previously involved in a row with a prison officer who died shortly afterwards from a heart attack.
Paul Henry stabbed his mother Ann ten times before carrying out a prolonged assault on her – kicking, punching and beating her with the handle of a brush – on September 17, 2011.
On Friday, the jury of six men and six women deliberated for just over three hours, before returning a verdict of not guilty by reason of being insane.
Henry, 28, is undergoing psychiatric assessment at the Central Mental Hospital in south Dublin and will appear before the courts on Wednesday.
Now, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that just one year before he killed his mother, Henry was involved in a row with a prison officer while serving a sentence at Loughan House Open Prison.
PJ Doran, a medical officer at the prison in Blacklion, Co. Cavan, was on duty in the jail on September 25, 2010 when he was pushed in the chest by Henry after he told him to turn down his radio.
Mr Doran turned pale and shortly after suffered a heart attack en route to Sligo General Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival.
A former prisoner said: ‘Some people wanted to have Henry moved a few times to a more secure lock-up unit because he clearly had a lot of mental health problems, but he only had minor conviction.
‘He was volatile and people didn’t know what way to behave around
‘He needed to be in a more secure unit’
him, he needed to be in a more secure unit. People thought it would be better if he was in a closed prison or in a hospital rather than Loughan House.’
Henry was serving a six-month sentence after he was caught driving twice without insurance and once without a licence in his hometown of Roscommon.
He was sitting in his room in the prison when Mr Doran asked him to lower the music. Henry pushed him in the chest.
Mr Doran was badly shaken and turned pale soon after the row and was taken to Sligo General Hospital. He suffered a fatal heart attack in the ambulance during the 40-minute drive.
A Garda investigation was launched after the assault and Paul Henry was later moved to Castlerea Prison in Roscommon. He was released in early 2011 after he served his sentence.
Mr Doran, from Doohama and Bangor Erris in Co. Mayo, was married with three children. He was a popular member of staff and was heavily involved with the Prison Officers Association.
The Prison Service paid tribute to him in the annual report in 2010. A source said: ‘He was a lovely man, everyone liked him, he was very easy to get along with and very understanding of the prisoners. It was a major loss to the prison because he was so well liked’.
Loughan House is an open prison housing 160 inmates who pose little or no risk.
‘He knew assault would
likely result in death’
The Central Criminal Court heard how Henry and his mother Ann had been cleaning their home at 3, The Spinney, Abbeytown in Roscommon when a row began.
She had told him that she was moving to live in Athlone and that he would have to find new accommodation.
He pushed his mother and kicked her to the ground before stabbing her ten times, seven of which were in the back. He kicked her in the face and all over her body while bystanders begged him to stop.
He took a brush handle and beat her with it. Afterwards he told the gardaí ‘it took a lot out of me to do that.’ A witness, Tom Greally, said he knelt beside her before she called out ‘Tom, Tom, come here, I’ve been stabbed’.
The mother of two took off her ring and asked him to give it to her other son, Phelim Jr.
The court was told that Ms Henry and her husband Phelim Sr had separated in 2007 because of difficulties in raising their son.
Since his arrest, Mr Henry has been detained at the Central Mental Hospital.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Tom Fahy had told the court that he believed Henry did not meet the criteria for an insanity plea, and was instead suffering from diminished responsibility at the time of the murder.
He said Henry had an ‘ awareness’ of his actions. ‘He knew he was injuring her. He knew the assault was likely to result in her death, so I think he did have an awareness of what he was doing.’
Dr Fahy added that the accused had told him he had been getting on well with his mother until about six months before her death.
Henry has a long history of mental health problems but had been released from a mental health facility on August 11, 2011.
His release was against the advice of his treating medical team and he immediately stopped taking his medication.
Attempts by his medical team to reach him with phone calls and visits to his home also went unanswered.