Teenager, 16, charged with Dungannon murder ordered to undergo mental health assessment

A 16-year-old charged with murdering a man in Co Tyrone and the attempted murder of his wife and daughter appeared at Omagh Court. A judge ordered a mental health assessment.

Mental health assessment ordered for 16-year-old charged with Dungannon murder

A judge at Omagh Court has ordered a mental health assessment for a 16-year-old boy charged with the murder of a 61-year-old man in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and the attempted murder of the man's wife and young daughter, TheJournal.ie reports.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared in court on Monday morning. A PSNI officer told the court she could connect the defendant to the charges, and his solicitor raised no objection to that connection.

Police received a call from a member of the public at around 10.55am on Saturday reporting a disturbance at a house on the Lisnahull Road in Dungannon. Officers who attended discovered the body of a 61-year-old man. The man's 48-year-old wife was found with non-life threatening injuries, while their eight-year-old daughter had sustained severe injuries.

The young girl had been in a critical condition in hospital but has since been stabilised. The PSNI said on Sunday that the "quick-thinking actions" of officers "gave the young girl a fighting chance of survival".

The defendant confirmed in court that he understood the charges against him. No application for bail was made.

His solicitor, Jarlath Faloon, told the court the defendant made admissions in relation to the alleged offences during police interviews over the weekend. Faloon described it as "regrettable" that before his arrest the defendant "hadn't underwent any formal psychiatric assessment".

Faloon said there were "clear concerns" about his client's mental health and that there had been "limited psychiatric assessment during the interview process". While the teenager had been seen by a mental health nurse and a forensic medical officer during the weekend's interviews, Faloon said that was "certainly not at a psychiatric level".

He asked the court to order "an immediate psychiatric assessment" of the defendant.

The judge agreed, saying he would make "an order for the authorities to conduct a mental health assessment". Faloon added that his office would also commission an independent assessment, describing the combined approach as "two-tiered".

The defendant was remanded in custody. He will next appear before Dungannon Youth Court via video-link on 15 September. An application for legal aid was granted.

Source: TheJournal.ie