A man who bludgeoned his grandfather to death outside his home in Donegal has been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. Dr Ronan Mullaney, for the defence, had told the jury that Mulligan was suffering from the mental disorder of paranoid schizophrenia at the time. Mulligan is a native Irish speaker and his father died in 2003, when the defendant was 16 years of age. His mother Angela had sourced a house for her son near to his grandfather and Mulligan had been residing there for several months. The lawyer said Mulligan viewed his grandfather as his father and it was a relationship of close affection, mutual respect and love.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2026 05:06 UTC