A 42-year-old woman who stabbed a man she did not know to death after he parked opposite her house has been jailed for eight years.
Ms Justice Karen O’Connor said it was a "fatal and ferocious" attack on a defenceless man.
She said it would have been at the top end of manslaughter cases and could have attracted a life sentence were it not for Christina Anderson’s mental disorder.
She imposed an 11-year sentence and suspended the final three years for a period of four years on a number of conditions.
Anderson stabbed 38-year-old Gareth Kelly five times as he tried to start his car in a parking space opposite her home at Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood in Dublin, at around 7am on 25 February 2020.
He had parked in the space due to a lack of spaces in his own neighbouring estate.
She had pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity.
More than a month into her trial, the DPP accepted a plea of guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to a mental disorder.
The State accepted she was suffering from a psychotic episode due to bipolar affective disorder.
In victim impact evidence, Mr Kelly's mother, Noeleen, said there were no words to explain the loss and heartache she felt.
She said each day brought pain and sorrow and reminders of what they had lost. His sister Lorraine said the facts of the trial and the CCTV footage she had seen would be forever etched on her mind.
His partner Maria Murphy said Mr Kelly was a loving dad who was adored by his children.
The trial heard that consultant psychiatrist Dr Brenda Wright, who was called by the defence, said Anderson was suffering from bipolar affective disorder and was unable to refrain from stabbing Mr Kelly.
However, the court heard that another consultant psychiatrist, Professor Harry Kennedy, disagreed and he said her behaviour was better explained by cannabis intoxication.
The court heard Anderson’s behaviour had become increasingly erratic in the days before the killing.
She had become obsessed with a false belief that there was a criminal conspiracy against her involving neighbours, gardaí and politicians. She has been a patient at the Central Mental Hospital since shortly after her arrest in February 2020.
She was due to attend psychiatric services on the morning of the killing.
Toxicologist Dr Johann Grundlingh gave evidence for the defence that if Anderson had smoked a joint at around 10pm the previous evening, it was extremely unlikely she would still have been intoxicated with cannabis when she stabbed Mr Kelly the following morning at 7am.
Prosecuting counsel Pat McGrath told the court at the sentence hearing that the DPP accepted intoxication did "not feature" in the case.
Her defence counsel Michael O’Higgins said his client’s actions were horrendous but she was suffering delusions brought on by her mental disorder.
He read out a letter of apology from Anderson and had urged Judge O'Connor to extend the "maximum leniency" available.
