A Tallaght man who shot dead a mother of 6 and injured her daughter while they were drinking tea at home has been found not guilty of murder and attempted murder by reason of insanity.
The court heard 60 year old James Redmond from the Killinarden estate had been hallucinating and hearing voices in his head several months before he carried out the shooting.
The court heard James Redmond was having delusional thoughts that his next door neighbour Mary Dargan and her daughter Karina were calling him a paedophile and insulting his wife and daughter.
The jury was told these were fictional thoughts in his head - that had no basis in fact or reality.
On the 15th of March 2014, Mr Redmond got a shotgun, which he was licensed to carry, and climbed over his back wall and into Mary’s house where she and her daughter were drinking tea in the kitchen. He shot Mary Dargan dead and injured her daughter Karina.
Mr Redmond was admitted to the Central Mental Hospital soon after the shooting and was diagnosed as suffering from depressive episodes with psychotic symptoms.
After four hours of deliberation, the jury returned this afternoon with the special verdict of not guilty of murder and attempted murder by reason of insanity by an eleven to one majority.
In a statement read out out on behalf of Mary Dargan's children, they said; 'It is an understatement to say that our lives will never be the same'.
Mr Redmond will now undergo further assessment before the court decides on the best course of action for him.
