Elderly victim's family say legal system favoured the defendant

Ian Harman, aged 50, from Carrickallen near Cootehill in County Cavan, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court in October 2014 for the manslaughter of Michael Treanor, an 82-year-old patient at the psychiatric unit of Cavan General Hospital. The death occurred on 27 June 2011. Harman initially pleaded not guilty to murder but changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter during trial, accepting responsibility on grounds of diminished responsibility under the Criminal Law Insanity Act. The prosecution had established that he used a belt and pillow to kill Mr Treanor, who suffered from dementia. The defence case centred on evidence that Harman experienced mental illness following the abrupt withdrawal of anti-psychotic medication after his admission to the psychiatric unit as a voluntary patient. Medical testimony was presented to support this claim regarding his state of mind at the time. Justice Garrett Sheehan imposed a ten-year sentence with the final two years suspended, backdated to 28 June 2011. The judge cited mitigating factors including Harman's guilty plea, expression of remorse, cooperation with gardaí and psychiatric services, and his engagement in rehabilitation programmes while in custody. The court ordered post-release supervision for two years. At the sentencing hearing on 6 October 2014, the deceased's nephew delivered a victim impact statement in which family members expressed concern that the legal system had favoured the defendant. This statement reflected the family's view that the outcome did not adequately reflect the gravity of the offence.