AN 88-YEAR-OLD hospital patient died of a cardiac arrest in his hospital bed following a “sustained and violent attack” during which he also suffered fractures, lacerations and bruising, a murder trial has heard.

Dylan Magee (33) went on trial at a sitting of the Criminal Court in Cork this morning.

He pleaded not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter of Matthew Healy by reason of diminished responsibility.

Matthew Healy and Dylan Magee were both patients in Room 2 of St Joseph’s Ward at Mercy University Hospital (MUH) in Cork on 22 January 2023. The men were not known to each other.

The jury heard that Mr Healy had been taken to MUH by ambulance on 13 January 2023 after he fell out of bed. He had become a widower earlier that month following the death of his wife.

Detective Garda Michelle Quinn gave the jury an outline of the case. She said that Dylan Magee had been referred to MUH on 19 January 2023 as he was hallucinating.

She said that Magee had taken 60 Xanax which he had purchased online. A subsequent toxicology screening showed the presence of THC, benzodiazepines and morphine in his system.

She said that medics prescribed him a sedating drug which was to be administered for the duration of the stay. He was also assigned a special care assistant.

Det Garda Quinn stated that Magee was psychiatrically reviewed at various intervals during his hospital stay. On 21 January 2023 Magee was given a bed in the same ward as Mr Healy.

That evening Magee was “talking and laughing to himself.”

At 9pm, a nurse contacted a medical intern and said that Magee was going to the bedside of other patients. The doctor arrived and Magee was given another injection later that evening.

Giving evidence, the detective said that Magee was “getting up and walking around all night” with one patient even requesting to be moved to a different room as a result of his behaviour.

Magee was given another sedative by injection in the early hours of the morning.

Dt Garda Quinn said that at 5.10am, Magee went to the bedside locker of another patient and asked: “Does he have a blade?”

She said at 5.15am a nurse left the room to ring for a doctor. The care assistant had his back to Magee as he was changing his gloves. He heard “footsteps and thumps”.

She said that the care assistant asked Magee to stop but he continued to punch Matthew Healy a few more times. Det Garda Quinn said that during the attack Magee said: “This man ate my son.”

The jury were told that a nurse who tried to drag Magee away from Mr Healy sustained a broken finger. The alarm was raised and other medical staff and security responded.

Meanwhile, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that the cause of death in the case was cardiac arrest due to a brain and spinal cord injury complicated by aspiration of blood due to blunt-force trauma.

Dr Bolster said that she had attended at the crime scene following the incident.

She noted the presence of blood-stained pillows and a “large amount” of blood spattering on the floor.

Dr Bolster also logged the presence of blood spattering on the walls and a hospital locker, as well as blood on the bed and sheets.

She carried out a postmortem on Matthew Healy at Cork University Hospital.

Dr Bolster said that the pensioner suffered fractures to his jaw and nasal bone. He also had bruising and lacerations.

Dr Bolster indicated that Mr Healy “would have died very quickly following the trauma”.

The jury also heard an outline of the case from prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland.

Ms Hyland said that in garda interviews following the incident Dylan Magee expressed “bizarre beliefs” including that the deceased man cannibalised children.

He also spoke about fire and claimed he was being persecuted by men wearing balaclavas.

Magee had started on antidepressants the previous month. He had also suffered the bereavement of a family member the previous year.

She said that Magee was “hearing voices and seeing things that were not there”. He was assigned a special care assistant as he was “vulnerable”.

Ms Hyland said that both the psychiatrist engaged by the prosecution and the defence agreed that by the time Dylan Magee attacked Matthew Healy any substances he took before admission were eliminated from his system.

She said that both the defence and prosecution psychiatrists were in agreement in relation to much of the facts.

She said that the defence psychiatrist was of the view that Magee was suffering from delirium and was ‘disoriented and deluded’ and that “impaired his capacity to inform a criminal intent”.

“He (the defence psychiatrist) will say that he had a delusional (episode) and he felt that the victim had kidnapped and cannibalised children of Dylan Magee. He didn’t know the nature of what he was doing and he couldn’t refrain from what he was doing.

“It his view that his (Magee’s) mental capacity was substantially diminished.”

Ms Hyland said the prosecution psychiatrist whilst substantially in agreement with the defence psychiatrist would say that Dylan Magee knew the nature of the act on some level was wrong but was unable to refrain from committing the act.

The case continues.