Irish man critical in Sicily after son arrested for knife attack in Salemi
A 67-year-old Irish man is in critical condition in hospital after allegedly being stabbed by his son in Salemi, Sicily. His 32-year-old Belgian-born son has been placed in a secure psychiatric facility.
Irish man fighting for life in Sicilian hospital after son detained over knife attack
A 67-year-old Irish man remains in critical condition at Marsala Hospital in Sicily after his son was arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder him with a knife, corkbeo.ie reports.
The suspect, a 32-year-old Belgian-born man and son of the victim, was detained by Carabinieri officers in Piazza Libertà in the town of Salemi on Friday, 13 November. Members of the public had alerted police after seeing him walking through the streets in a highly agitated state, visibly covered in blood.
When stopped for identification, the man reportedly told officers he was covered in blood because he had stabbed his father with a knife shortly before being apprehended. He offered no further explanation.
Carabinieri subsequently attended the victim's home, where they established the 67-year-old had already been taken to hospital and was being treated in critical condition. A blood-stained switchblade was later found during a search of the suspect's home and seized as the suspected weapon.
The suspect was initially remanded in custody at Trapani prison following a court hearing, the Irish Mirror has reported. Further investigations, coordinated by the Marsala Public Prosecutor's Office and involving international cooperation, subsequently uncovered a history of incidents across several countries that had required intervention by local authorities.
Prosecutors then ordered a forensic psychiatric assessment. The resulting report concluded that the suspect was suffering from a severe psychotic disorder involving persecutory delusions, including a misidentification of his own father. Assessors determined he had not been mentally competent at the time of the alleged attack, and identified both an ongoing risk to public safety and a need for specialist treatment in a secure setting.
In light of those findings, prosecutors sought to replace the suspect's detention order with a temporary security measure requiring placement in a REMS — a specialist residential healthcare facility for people with serious mental illness. A judge overseeing preliminary investigations granted the request.
Authorities have since been working to arrange the transfer. However, with no available beds at a REMS facility in the relevant area, the suspect has been temporarily placed in another suitable healthcare facility, where he will remain until a vacancy becomes available.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)