Four people deemed unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity released from Central Mental Hospital
Four people who had been deemed unfit to stand trial or found not guilty of crimes by reason of insanity were released from the Central Mental Hospital last year, a new report has revealed.
They had spent an average of nine years at the facility before being approved for conditional discharge by the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board, with two of the individuals having been detained for less than seven years.
The longest period spent at the National Forensic Mental Health Service facility in Portrane before release was 11.86 years, according to an annual report published by the Review Board today.
The independent board, which is responsible for reviewing the detention of patients referred to the designated centre by the courts, held a record 215 hearings last year, according to the report.
This represented a 3.4 per cent increase in workload compared to the 208 sessions conducted the previous year, with the body reviewing the cases of 99 individual patients. Some long-term patients had their detention reviewed for the 47th time during 2025.
The vast majority of the board’s work – some 138 hearings or 64 per cent of the total – involved patients committed under Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 after being found not guilty of an offence by reason of insanity.
Involuntary transfers from prison under Section 15(2), where prisoners required care or treatment unavailable in prison, represented the second-largest category with 36 reviews, accounting for 17 per cent of the total workload.
The figures show that 41 of the 99 individual patients reviewed last year had been charged with, or convicted of, murder. The majority of the victims of this offence, or alleged offence, were family members of the patient.
A further eight patients had been charged with or convicted of attempted murder, manslaughter, or death caused by dangerous driving, while 32 faced charges or convictions relating to assault causing harm or serious bodily harm.
Five patients had been charged with arson, while 13 were categorised under other serious offences, including sexual assault, threats to kill, and aggravated burglary while armed with a knife.
In addition to the four conditional releases, the board received seven applications for unconditional discharge from patients who had been out on conditional status for a year or more.
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The board ultimately granted five of these unconditional discharges, refused two, and left one awaiting a final decision. One application was also received and granted to amend an existing conditional discharge order.
Some 63 per cent of the 99 patients reviewed last year were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, while 20 per cent had schizoaffective disorder, and 17 per cent were diagnosed with other disorders. Female patients accounted for 14 of those reviewed, while 85 were male.
The review board was allocated funding of €439,000 by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration last year, and total expenditure amounted to €354,414.
The largest administrative draw on the budget was the statutory provision of free legal aid under the board’s panel scheme, which cost €119,534.22 to ensure patients were assigned representatives.
