Murder rap father told psychiatrist about son’s death
A CONSULTANT psychiatrist yesterday told a murder trial about a “harrowing” interview he had with a man accused of killing his own two-year-old son.
Dr Alexander Quinn had to assess Lukasz Czapla’s mental state after toddler Julius was found dead at a property in Edinburgh’s Muirhouse.
Czapla denies murdering the boy at his home in November 2020.
A trial at the High Court in Edinburgh had heard Czapla say he couldn’t remember events of the night Julius was killed.
But Dr Quinn told of an interview he had with the accused after it emerged he could remember more details.
In a statement read to the jury, Dr Quinn said the interview was “harrowing”.
The court heard Czapla told the psychiatrist he tried to end Julius’s life by shooting the toddler in the head with a BB gun, but failed. Upon seeing the boy in a “distressed manner”, Czapla said he stabbed and smothered Julius.
Czapla’s lawyers have lodged a special defence which states he should be acquitted of murder due to diminished responsibility.
Dr Quinn told the court Czapla was suffering from a “depressive illness” at the time of his son’s death. He said: “This would have played a role in reducing his impulsive control, muddling his thinking and most likely making actions less coherent.”
Dr Quinn added that at the time of the killing, Czapla was also “intoxicated with a mixture of alcohol and antidepressant tablets”. The trial continues.