A
alexk
Guest
A mentally ill man who allegedly killed his baby nephew in 2005 was yesterday found by a jury to be unfit to plead to the crime.
As a result, Patrick Nash, 40, was ordered by Justice Maria Wilson to be detained at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital at the President’s pleasure.
Nash has a history of mental illness and last Thursday a 12-member jury was empanelled to hear evidence about his mental condition for the purpose of determining if he was capable of pleading to charge.
The charge alleged on June 20, 2005, Nash murdered his 14-month-old nephew, Josiah Mohammed, at his Caratal Road, Gasparillo home.
It is alleged that Nash climbed over a wall and entered the bedroom. He allegedly grabbed the sleeping baby off of the bed by his legs and began slamming him against the wall and the floor.
An autopsy revealed the baby died from blunt force injuries. During the hearing in the San Fernando Third Criminal Court the defence led evidence from two specialists attached to St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospita—forensic psychiatrist Dr Dominic Nwokolo and psychologist Swayne-Leo Hosein-Cadogan.
The jury heard that Nash was diagnosed with suffering from schizophrenia in 2002. Nash, the jury heard, was not responding to medication and not likely to recover.
Nash’s attorneys Cedric Neptune and Anisa Sankar also called Nash’s sister Anna Nash as a witness.
The jury took about an hour to return with their decision that Nash was unfit to plead. The judge sent Nash to the St Ann’s Hospital for further care and treatment until the President’s pleasure is known. Wilson also ordered that the hospital send a report to the court by 2020 to say whether he is still in need of further care and treatment.
However, if the hospital determines at any point he is no longer in need of further treatment that also has to be reported to the court immediately.
However, if and when Nash is released back into society, he will have to be determined by the President.