Victim of throat-slitting attack in Limerick went on to kill a man by slitting his throat

A MAN was found not guilty by reason of insanity of slashing another man’s throat with a blade at an addiction treatment centre in County Limerick.

Sean Beumer, aged 29, of Edenmore Crescent, Raheny, Dublin 5, admitted slashing the victim, Aaron Babbington’s throat with a makeshift knife, which he made by fixing a razor blade to a plastic handle.

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It was heard in the absence of the jury at Limerick Circuit Court that Babbington, aged in his early 30s, is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence. He admitted to slashing another man’s throat with a broken vodka bottle in Cork city in 2023. Babbington was jailed last April for attempted murder. The victim died in Cork University Hospital two days after the attack.

Mr Beumer, represented by Lorcan Connolly SC, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to assault causing harm to Babbington, and to producing a bladed weapon during the assault at Cuan Mhuire, Bruree in the early hours of December 13, 2019.

A jury of seven men and five women delivered unanimous verdicts that Mr Beumer was not guilty to both charges by reason of insanity.

Consultant psychiatrist, Dr Ivan Murray, had told the jury that when Mr Beumer attacked Babbington, he was in the throws of a “psychotic episode” as a direct result of him not receiving anti-psychotic medication.

Mr Beumer and Babbington were both attending a residential alcohol detox programme in Bruree when the incident took place in the smoking area,

Babbington, of no fixed abode, but formerly of Churchfield in Cork, sustained three slash wounds to his throat, as well as a slash wound to his thumb in the attack by Mr Beumer. He received treatment in University Hospital Limerick.

Mr Beumer’s trial heard he attended Cuan Mhuire on November 29, 2019 with an established diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. However, neither a GP who assessed Mr Beumer for his suitability to attend Cuan Mhuire, nor Cuan Mhuire itself, had been aware of his diagnosis.

In the days leading up to the attack on Babbington, Mr Beumer had requested medication but he did not receive it. Mr Beumer’s previously prescribed medications were “discontinued” in line with normal detox protocols at the centre.

After his arrest Mr Beumer told gardai that psychotic thoughts and voices had been “building” in his mind leading up to the assault on Babbington, and that he eventually “exploded” and slashed the man’s throat with a razor blade.

Mr Beumer told gardai he had been experiencing hallucinations which he claimed had “brainwashed” him into erroneously believing he and his family would be murdered if he didn’t do what he did.

There was no CCTV footage of the attack and there was no evidence that Babbington had done anything to provoke Mr Beumer.

Dr Murray said in his “professional opinion”, there had been a “definite link” between Mr Beumer not receiving his anti-psychotic medication and assaulting Babbington.

Dr Murray said that, in his view, Mr Beumer had met the criteria to support his not guilty plea by reason of insanity. Dr Murray said Mr Beumer had been “unable to refrain from his actions”, and that his psychotic thoughts had “overwhelmed his decision-making”.

The psychiatrist agreed with prosecuting barrister, Lily Buckley, that Mr Beumer’s schizophrenia diagnosis should have been flagged with Cuan Mhuire prior to him attending there for alcohol detox.

Dr Murray said, in his opinion, Mr Beumer requires a “multi-disciplinary” approach to treating his schizophrenia, including an MRI scan on his brain in order to rule in or rule out the possibility, although a “rare” one, that Mr Beumer may be suffering from a “lesion” on his brain that he said could be causing his mental health issues.

Judge Colin Daly, presiding, heard that Mr Beumer continues to suffer schizophrenia symptoms despite being on anti-psychotic medication.

The judge ordered that a medical report, with regard to Mr Beumer’s mental health, be furnished to the court following a further assessment at the Central Mental Hospital within the next 14 days.