Domestic abuser who stabbed wife to death in Dublin home fails to overturn conviction

Alan Ward (56), who had been forced to leave his previous home in Tallaght after he used a Samurai sword to stab his neighbour during a fight, murdered his wife Catherine Doyle (41) at their home at Greenfort Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, on March 1, 2019.

Ward had denied the charge, arguing that his responsibility was diminished due to a mental disorder brought on by a stroke he suffered two years earlier.

His trial heard that he had a long history of violence towards his wife and others prior to suffering the stroke.

As the court sat this morning to deliver its judgment Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, for Ward, said he had just become aware that his client believes that forms relevant to his defence were not put before the trial court. Mr Ó Lideadha said he did not know what material his client was referring to and asked for an adjournment to allow the legal team to discuss the matter further.

He said Ward had also told him that due to difficulties arising from his stroke, his client didn’t understand what was happening during his trial.

The three-judge court refused the application to adjourn and the judgment was delivered by Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh. She said that Ward had been married for 23 years and had a history of domestic violence and a long history of alcohol abuse.

He developed communication difficulties following a stroke in 2017 and two years later he stabbed his wife to death upstairs in their home. When his son Adam came to help, having heard a bang, Ward attempted to slash him with the knife and threatened to kill him.

At trial, Ward relied primarily on the defence of diminished responsibility due to a mental disorder brought on by his stroke. Had the jury accepted that defence, they would have convicted him of manslaughter rather than murder.

Two experts told the trial that Ward did have a mental disorder but they differed on whether his actions were better explained by that disorder or by intoxication.

Ward’s legal team argued that the prosecution expert should not have been allowed to offer his opinion that alcohol was the greater factor. Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh rejected that argument, saying the expert’s evidence would have been incomplete and artificial had he not offered his opinion on how the mental disorder interacted with intoxication.

Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh said the trial judge was careful to point out that the ultimate decision regarding diminished responsibility was for the jury.

The court rejected three further grounds of appeal, saying they were not satisfied Ward had been able to show that his trial was unfair or unsatisfactory.

At Ward’s trial, Dr Damian Smith offered the opinion that having regard to the background circumstances, in particular the history of violence and abuse, alcohol intoxication was the more likely cause of the appellant’s behaviour in killing the deceased.

Dr Smith said he was not satisfied that the brain injury caused by a stroke in 2017 was sufficient to diminish Ward’s responsibility, although he said the final decision was a matter for the jury.

The defence had called consultant psychiatrist Dr Paul O’Connell who said a combination of brain damage and PTSD were present in Ward but that this was complicated by alcohol misuse.

Giving evidence at the trial, Dr O’Connell said it was up to the jury to decide if Ward should be found to have diminished responsibility due to his mental disorder and he therefore would not offer his own opinion.

During the trial, Adam Ward, a son of the accused and deceased, told the jury that he emerged from his room after hearing a bang and saw his father in the doorway of his parents’ bedroom striking downwards. When Adam asked what he was doing, his father told him, “get the fuck away from me or I’m going to kill you,” swiped at him with the blade and lunged towards him.

Adam stepped backwards, out of the way of the knife, and ran downstairs.

When he saw his father following he quickly unlocked the front door and ran across the street to where he saw a small group of people. He told them what had happened and one of them called gardaí.

Arising from the attempted attack on his son, Ward was convicted of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Adam Ward and of attempting to stab him.

The trial also heard that Ward was convicted in 2002 of assaulting his wife causing her harm. Gardai were called to their home to respond to domestic disputes five times over the years. When he lived in Tallaght, Ward got into a fight with a neighbour and stabbed him in the neck with a Samurai sword. Gardai were called to that incident but Ward’s neighbour decided not to make a complaint, the trial heard.

In 2017, Adam said his father had a stroke which affected his speech and required him to attend classes to learn how to talk.

He said his father’s personality didn’t change following the stroke; the only difference Adam noticed was the difficulty his father had with his speech.