Deirdre Morley: Mother found not guilty of murdering children

A 44-year-old woman charged with murdering her three children has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Conor, nine , Darragh, seven, and Carla McGinley, three, were found found dead at their house in Newcastle, County Dublin in January 2020.

Their mother, Deirdre Morley, was acquitted of all three counts on Thursday.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey said there was no contest about the verdict.

The court had heard Ms Morley had a severe psychotic depressive illness.

The jury of ten men and two women were told they must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Ms Morley was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the killings.

Justice Coffey described it as a "sad and tragic case".

He said the jury had to be satisfied that Ms Morley did not know what she was doing was wrong or was unable to stop.

The court heard from expert witnesses, called on behalf of the prosecution and defence, who were unanimous in their view that Ms Morley was legally insane when she killed her children.

Conor, Carla, and Darragh McGinley pictured with their father, Andrew McGinley

The judge said there was no dispute between the sides and so nothing to set against the doctors' opinion that insanity applied to all three counts.

He added that the prosecution and defence agreed that Ms Morley should be found not guilty.

Remorse

The trial had heard evidence that Ms Morley believed she had seriously damaged her children because of her mental health problems, an issue she first raised with psychiatrists in late 2018.

She continued to express such thoughts during the next year as her depressive illness became more serious and that Ms Morley had masked her condition from her husband, Andrew McGinley, and others.

The court heard that Ms Morley told gardaí (Irish police) and doctors afterwards that she had decided to kill her children about three or four days before 24 January, 2020.

Ms Morley smothered the three children and then attempted to take her own life.

When Mr McGinley returned from work, he found her unconscious outside the house being attended by paramedics.

The court heard that after Ms Morley woke up from a coma in hospital, she expressed remorse and said she wished she had a time machine.

In an interview, she told gardaí she just wanted her children back.

'I can't be angry all the time'

Mr McGinley told Irish broadcaster RTÉ, that he has accepted that his wife was not in her right mind on 24 January 2020.

"We had nearly 20 years together. Dee loved the kids," he told RTÉ's Prime Time.

However, he said that he will never be able to break the connection between her and what happened.

"I'm going to struggle with that every single day. I really am."

Mr McGinley said his focus was on keeping the memory of his children alive.

"There's tears, there's sadness," he added.

"But I can't just be tearful and sad all the time.

"And I can't be angry all the time, either."