Courts / Waterford / Report
St Otteran's Hospital resident died after suffering more than 100 knife wounds to head and face
Summary
In a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court, a 55‑year‑old resident of St Otteran's Hospital was found dead after suffering more than 100 knife wounds to her head and face. Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis described the injuries, noting a broken nose, a knife wound to the jugular vein, and defensive wounds on her hands. He stated that the head and neck bore the majority of the stab wounds, with one penetrating eight centimetres and damaging the jugular vein, leading to death by blood loss. The stomach, organs, lungs and heart were reported as normal. The accused, Paul Cuddihy, 38, a former resident of the psychiatric unit, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Maria O'Brien and to assault charges against nurses Breda Fennelly, Mary Grant, Terry Hayes and fellow resident Mary Nugent. A kitchen knife taken from Cuddihy at the scene was presented as evidence.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: St Otteran's Hospital resident died after suffering more than 100 knife wounds to head and face. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- September 5, 2014 Incident
- 2016-11-03 Publication
Case subjects
Places mentioned
Topics
Related court reports
- Mentally ill man who put fellow psychiatric patient in chokehold to be immediately released into care of UK parents
- Former Christian Brothers accused of breach of duty to be named in national newspaper
- Murderer claims reference to Conor McGregor brought 'toxic masculinity' baggage
- Combined 15-year sentence for violent rape and abuse is upheld
- High Court to consider publishing names of 340 former Christian Brothers
- Disability charity boss wins record €323k for 'egregious' whistleblower penalisation
Help us improve this report
Your request is saved for the newsroom's next review. It does not immediately change the published report.
Prefer email? Send a correction request.