Ian Harman remanded over Cavan hospital murder charge

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Ian Harman, 47, appeared before Cavan District Court on 28 June 2011, charged with murdering Michael Treanor, 82, at the psychiatric unit of Cavan General Hospital on 27 June 2011.

Sgt James Green gave evidence that he arrested Harman at the hospital at 10.45am on 27 June 2011. He said he charged Harman with the murder of Treanor at 10.54pm that night.

The judge remanded Harman in custody to Castlerea Prison to appear before Virginia District Court on 5 July 2011. The report names the judge as Sean McBridge in the remand passage, but subsequently refers to Judge McBride. Harman’s solicitor Damian Rudden said his client consented to the remand.

Rudden requested medical assistance and a psychiatric assessment for his client, saying Cloverhill Prison in Dublin had better facilities for this. The judge said he would ask the Governor of Castlerea to transfer Harman to Cloverhill for an urgent medical and psychiatric examination and assessment.

The judge also said he would grant legal aid given the gravity of the offence. The Health Service Executive said it would carry out its own investigation into what happened at the hospital.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.