Oisin Conroy pleads not guilty to murder charge

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

Oisin Conroy was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court on 5 July 2017. He pleaded not guilty to murdering Natalie McGuinness by reason of insanity. The charge concerns her death in Sligo on 28 October 2015. The proceedings were reported on 6 July 2017.

Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC said Conroy accepted that his acts had caused Ms McGuinness’s death by strangulation. He said the sole issue was Conroy’s mental state.

The trial heard evidence about Mr Conroy’s mental health history. Defence psychiatrist Dr Fiona Toal said he had schizophrenia and was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the offence. The trial was continuing before Mr Justice Tony Hunt.