A 23-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of a 65-year-old who had taken his mother into his home after learning she was sleeping in her car.
Brian Ibe, of no fixed abode, but formerly of Moore Park, Newbridge in Co Kildare, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Peter Kennedy by reason of insanity.
The jury deliberated for just under seven hours over the past three days before finding him guilty of murder by a unanimous verdict.
He was also convicted of assault causing harm to Garda Brendan O'Donnell at Newbridge Garda Station following his arrest on or about 29 April 2020.
Ibe's lawyers had called two psychiatrists who said that Ibe was undergoing a schizophrenic psychosis at the time of the assault and meets the criteria for that special verdict.
However, Dr Mary Davoren, whom the prosecution called, disagreed with the schizophrenia diagnosis and found instead that Ibe has a dissocial personality disorder.
She said that he did not meet the criteria for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The trial heard that Peter Kennedy took Brian Ibe's mother Martha into his home after learning she was sleeping in her car.
In 2019, he also allowed Ibe to move in but called the gardaí when Ibe became aggressive and threatened him around Christmas of that year.
Gardaí asked Ibe to leave the house and he moved to a homeless shelter in Walkinstown in Dublin.
On 28 April 2020, Brian Ibe took a taxi from Walkinstown to Mr Kennedy's home, broke into the house by smashing a window and assaulted the 65-year-old.
He died from his injuries in hospital two weeks later, on 2 May.
Brian Ibe also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of assault causing harm to Garda Brendan O'Donnell at Newbridge Garda Station following his arrest on or about 29 April 2020.
Ms Justice Melanie Greally told the jury that given the plea entered by Ibe, he has accepted that he killed Mr Kennedy and that he assaulted Gda O'Donnell.
She also told them that it was not contested that serious injury or death were the natural and probable consequences of the assault Brian Ibe carried out on Peter Kennedy.
The judge highlighted the differences in the psychiatric evidence of different doctors and said that under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act, it falls on the accused person to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that at the time of the offences, they were suffering from a mental disorder and ought not to be held responsible for their actions.
Ms Justice Melanie Greally remanded Brian Ibe in custody for sentencing on 19 May.
He faces the mandatory term of life in prison.
