A mentally ill Irish man was acquitted of killing his father in 2022, citing insanity due to paranoid delusions.

A 31-year-old Irish man, Ross O'Rourke, was found not guilty of murdering his father in October 2022 by reason of insanity after a Central Criminal Court trial. The jury, deliberating for just 29 minutes, agreed that O'Rourke, suffering from schizo-affective disorder, was unable to understand the wrongfulness of stabbing his father 18 times due to paranoid delusions. Both prosecution and defense psychiatrists confirmed he believed his father was linked to the IRA and had sent him coded death messages. O'Rourke, who had a history of mental health issues, was hospitalized after the attack and remains in long-term psychiatric care at the Central Mental Hospital, where he has shown partial improvement. The judge expressed sympathy for the victim’s family and exempted the jury from further service. The verdict followed Ireland’s Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006.