Julian Cuddihy committed to hospital after murder acquittal

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

Julian Cuddihy was found not guilty of murdering his parents by reason of insanity.

On 20 June 2016, Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan ordered his committal to the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin for inpatient care and treatment. She was satisfied that he was suffering from a mental disorder.

The bodies of Kathleen (73) and James (77) Cuddihy were found with multiple wounds at the family home in Churchtown, Carndonagh, in October 2014. The report said Julian Cuddihy killed his parents with an axe and, while suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, believed he was sending them to heaven. He told psychiatrists after the killings that he had heard voices telling him what to do.

A consultant forensic psychiatrist said he had first been admitted to the Central Mental Hospital a week after the killings. She said the kind of care he needed was available only at the hospital.