A DUBLIN MAN who was suffering from a severe relapse of schizoaffective disorder when he killed his girlfriend has been found not guilty of her murder by reason of insanity.

The Central Criminal Court jury yesterday accepted the evidence given by consultant forensic psychiatrist Ronan Mullaney, for the defence, that Austin Mangan was unable to refrain from committing the killing and therefore met the criteria for the special verdict.

UK consultant forensic psychiatrist Richard Church, for the State, had also testified that there was “no question” but that the defendant had a lifetime of significant mental illness. The expert witness said Mangan had told him he had been admitted to mental health services on 30 occasions – “sometimes at six month intervals during his life”.

However, the jurors rejected Church’s finding that although Mangan was suffering from a mental disorder which diminished his responsibility for the act, he did not qualify for a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict because he was able to refrain from the killing.

Mangan (53), with a previous address at Hollybank Road in Drumcondra but more recently of the Beaumont area of Dublin, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of Maud Coffey (41) at the Horizon Building in Royal Canal Park, Ashtown, Dublin 15 on 13 January, 2023.

At the outset of the trial, the defence had made formal admissions to the court on behalf of the defendant, including that Mangan killed Ms Coffey.

In his closing speech, Patrick Gageby, defending, called the case “one of the saddest to be laid before a jury”. He said Ms Coffey was a kind and quiet woman, who was “subjected to a frenzied attack in her own home with every weapon available”.

Counsel said it was beyond doubt that Mangan, who had a very long psychiatric history and a long standing history of resisting medication, had killed his girlfriend; “he told everyone who would listen to him – and those who didn’t want to listen”.

The trial heard that Ms Coffey had developed significant mental health issues of her own and had spent two weeks in a specialist wing of Connolly Memorial Hospital before discharging herself two days before her death on 11 January, 2023.

Mangan told gardaí he had killed his girlfriend Ms Coffey and had referred to “the devil, the bible and to the killing of Lucifer”, which the defence referred to as an “unstoppable torrent coming out of his mouth”.

In his closing address, Brendan Grehan, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, submitted that there had been “an element of overkill” in terms of what had happened to Ms Coffey.

Counsel said a black flex which appeared to be from a hoover was found tightly wrapped around the deceased’s neck and she had been slashed across the throat and other parts of the body with a large knife.

He submitted that both expert witnesses in the case were in agreement that Mangan had a long-standing mental health history, interacting with “a whole gallery of doctors” from when he was 18 years old.

Grehan said the jurors had heard from two of Ms Coffey’s sisters, who had spoken in positive terms of the couple’s relationship and Mangan’s kindness towards Maud. “There didn’t appear to be any red flags that she might in fact be in danger,” he stressed, adding that the defendant had been making plans to propose marriage to Ms Coffey.

The jury of seven men and five women spent seven hours and 23 minutes deliberating over two days before bringing in a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

After they had delivered their verdict, Justice Paul Burns thanked the jury for their service, saying the evidence in the case had been particularly harrowing.

The judge exempted them from jury service for the next seven years.

The judge said he was required to commit Mangan to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) for inpatient care, which is a specified designated centre, for a period of 13 days.

Burns then made an order committing the defendant to the CMH today, with his return before the court scheduled for Friday.

The judge also directed the preparation of a psychiatric assessment by an approved medical officer at the CMH to see whether Mangan needs inpatient care there.

Gageby told the judge that “in the ordinary course” of events, victim impact evidence would not be heard. However, he said that despite the acquittal, the defence had no objection to victim impact evidence being given today.

Burns said he was sure that this would be very helpful for Ms Coffey’s family and directed the preparation of a victim impact statement for Friday.

The trial heard that the defendant’s sister had reported to Mullaney that Mangan was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was 18 years old, which was revised to schizoaffective disorder in his twenties.

Grehan noted in his closing address that Mangan had been treated with electroshock therapy in the past, indicating that his mental disorder was particularly resistant to being treated by medications – “even high powered ones prescribed over the years”.

Counsel said both psychiatrists agreed on practically everything in the case except for one issue. He said Church did not agree the defendant lacked the ability to restrain himself.

Witnesses

Jose Maku told the trial that she was waiting for the bus with her two children within the Royal Canal Park complex in Ashtown on the morning of 13 January, 2023, when “a big man”, who she now knows to be Mangan, started talking to her daughter, telling her to be a good girl and go to school.

The witness said Mangan then turned to her and asked why her hair was straight. Maku said the defendant started to shout at her, saying “do you want to be white that bad” and became abusive.

The woman moved away from the defendant but he began shouting “women are Eves and men are Adams” before going upstairs onto a bus.

The witness described Mangan as hyper and said she could see blood on his knuckles like he had punched someone.

Caroline McElroy, who was also at the bus stop, told the jurors that she heard Mangan talk about producing sperm and asked him to stop as children were present. The witness said the defendant became aggressive, so she asked the driver to hold the bus.

McElroy rang gardaí, as she was concerned Mangan was a danger to himself and others. She said she could hear him shouting about being ‘Jesus Christ’, saying the numbers ’666′ and how he hadn’t got his injection.

Al Brennan O’Reilly, who was sitting upstairs on the bus, said Mangan had sat six rows in front of him. He described the defendant as being agitated, moving his hands in the air and “looked like someone having a bad day”.

The witness said he heard him saying “she is my ex-girlfriend now” and “I’m on my own now”. He agreed under cross-examination that Mangan was mentally ill and not making sense.

The trial heard gardaí then arrived and asked everyone to disembark the bus.

In his closing address, Grehan said within two hours of Maud Coffey’s tragic killing Mangan was at the bus stop behaving bizarrely. He said gardaí had acted entirely professionally when dealing with the defendant and had taken a “very compassionate approach” with “no heavy handedness”.

Counsel said gardaí had concluded very quickly that they were dealing with someone with a mental health problem. Garda John McGowan had used powers under section 12 of the Mental Health Act 2021 to detain Mangan for his own safety and the safety of others.

Mangan was later remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison, where he came under the care of psychiatrists before being transferred to the Central Mental Hospital some months later.

Counsel said Ms Coffey’s body had been discovered as, before boarding the bus, the defendant had called his sister to say he had killed his girlfriend.

Grehan said Suzanne Mangan had responsibly called gardaí, even though she didn’t believe it had happened.

Psychiatric evidence

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Ronan Mullaney told Gageby, defending, that he had interviewed Mangan on two occasions in June 2024.

The witness testified that Mangan had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and had a history of relapses of the illness. He said the relapses were mainly of a schizo-manic type, when Mangan had a combination of psychotic symptoms including delusions and hallucinations as well as other mood components such as being over talkative.

Mullaney said in the months prior to going into custody, the defendant told him he had been drinking very heavily, up to nine pints of beer several times a week.

Following his committal to Cloverhill Prison on 14 January, 2023, Mullaney said the defendant had reported a history of schizophrenia. Mangan told the psychiatrist he had stopped attending his clinic and ceased taking his prescribed antipsychotic medication in the previous months.

The defendant told the psychiatrist that Ms Coffey said he had appeared unwell before the offence, and that he had heard people talking about him on television.

Mangan also told Mullaney that he hadn’t been feeling well the day before the offence and went to Millmount Health Clinic in Drumcondra to get an injection but that they wouldn’t give it to him. The defendant said Millmount Health Clinic told him to go to another clinic but instead they went to Ms Coffey’s apartment, as he was tired.

Under cross-examination, Grehan put it to Mullaney that Mangan had gone to get depot medication but there wasn’t someone to dispense it and was told to come back on 18 January.

Mullaney said depots are highly organised and, to receive medication, there has to be an appointment with a community psychiatric nurse, which was “not available on the day, which was not surprising”. He agreed it may have made no difference, as the medication can take six weeks to take effect.

The psychiatrist said the defendant had been walking in Cabra with Ms Coffey on the day of the offence when they saw graffiti with the word ‘lost’. Mangan said he told Ms Coffey that this meant he was lost and he took it that the deceased had laughed at him and felt she was mocking him.

Mangan said: “I thought the devil was talking to me and thought Maud might be the devil, I thought she was a banshee that’s what kept me attacking her, I heard Lucifer laughing at me”.

The defendant told the psychiatrist he put his arms around the deceased’s neck. “I knew she was dead, after that the frenzy started….I never felt like killing someone before but I had anger”.

Mullaney said it was his opinion that the defendant was suffering from a mental disorder at the time, which was an acute psychosis relapse of schizoaffective disorder.

He said he was satisfied Mangan met the criteria for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on the basis that he was unable to refrain from committing the act. He said in his opinion, the defendant did know the nature and quality of the act and did know what he was doing was wrong.

Richard Church told Grehan he had interviewed the defendant on two occasions in January 2025.

The psychiatrist said he found the events leading up to the killing did not paint a picture of an individual unable to control himself. The witness said Mangan was fit to be interviewed and engaged in hours of interviews, which in his opinion was not in keeping with a disturbance in mental state so severe that he was unable to manage his behaviour at the time of this offence.

Church said it was clear Mangan was suffering from a mental disorder that had diminished his responsibility for the killing but the witness found that the defendant would have been able to refrain from committing the act.