Maha Al Adheem committed after murder insanity verdict

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

A jury found Maha Al Adheem not guilty by reason of insanity of murdering her three-year-old son, Omar Omran, on 20 December 2018. The following day, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon ordered her commitment to the Central Mental Hospital.

Al Adheem had pleaded not guilty to murdering Omar on 10 July 2017. The proceedings were reported on 21 December 2018.

The report said Al Adheem stabbed her autistic son to death in their south Dublin home. The trial heard that she told gardaí at the scene that she had stabbed her son and herself. She also told gardaí in interviews that “a power” had made her take a knife from a drawer.

Two consultant psychiatrists told the Central Criminal Court trial that Al Adheem was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in July 2017. They said she was unable to appreciate that what she had done was morally wrong and would have been unable to refrain from her actions.

On 21 December, prosecution counsel Michael Delaney SC called consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ronan Mullally to report on her condition. Dr Mullally recommended commitment and said she would require ongoing medication, psychological treatment and therapy. He said her condition would be reviewed by the Mental Health Review Board and she would be considered for conditional discharge in future.