A jury has found a woman not guilty of murdering her 76-year-old mother by reason of insanity.
Moire Bergin believed her mother, Mary, was possessed by the devil when she stabbed her to death at her home at First Avenue, Seville Place, Dublin.
Over the past twenty years, a deterioration in Moire Bergin’s mental health has led to multiple hospital admissions, often against her will.
On the day she killed her mother, in April 2022, gardai found her naked and covered in blood.
She was in a highly distressed state and thought her mother had been possessed by the devil. She told gardai she just had to kill her.
Two experts concluded that she was suffering from a mental disorder at the time and after considering the evidence for just over an hour, the jury returned a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Moire Bergin will now be assessed at the Central Mental Hospital before the case returns to the court with an updated report on her current mental state.
Reporting by Frank Greaney
