Valerijs Leitons faces jury decision on murder insanity verdict

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

Valerijs Leitons pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering Skaidrite Valdgeima. The proceedings at the Central Criminal Court were reported on 7 October 2021.

Leitons was charged with murdering Valdgeima at the Binary Hub aparthotel on Bonham Street, Dublin 8, on 26 June 2019.

In closing submissions, prosecution barrister Conor Devally SC argued that Leitons’ responsibility was substantially diminished. Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC asked the jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity.

The psychiatrists disagreed about the extent of Leitons’ impairment. Dr Ronan Mullaney said he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence and met all three criteria for an insanity verdict. Dr Damien Smith said he had a mental disorder but did not meet any of the criteria.

Justice Paul Burns told the jury that, in reality, it was being asked to decide between a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury was due to begin deliberations the following day.