An Ireland-based Nigerian, Brian Ogbo, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for killing his 82-year-old grandmother during what a court described as a severe psychotic episode, according to Irish media reports.
Ogbo, 39, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Stella Nnadi, who was killed at the family home in Carrigaline, County Cork, on Feb. 23, 2025, the Irish Mirror reported. He was sentenced by the Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The report said Ogbo had moved from Nigeria to Ireland in December 2024 to reunite with his mother, Ruby Ogbo, and his grandmother.
The court heard that Ruby, a social worker, had made repeated efforts to secure anti-psychotic medication for her son, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017.
It also heard that Ogbo had missed two monthly injections while his mother struggled to navigate Ireland’s mental health system.
Judge Sinead Behan said Ogbo was “in the obvious throes of a psychotic episode” at the time of the attack.
Detective Garda Tom Delaney told the court that Ogbo had been pacing inside the home for hours before the incident, damaged parts of the kitchen and consumed food in the house.
Delaney said Ogbo later assaulted his mother and pursued her with scissors after she removed the internet router from the home.
He said Ogbo later went upstairs in search of his grandmother, who had locked herself in a bathroom.
“He shouted at her to open the door. The deceased shouted, ‘Oh my God,’” Delaney told the court.
The court heard the grandmother was eventually dragged downstairs and forced outside before she sought refuge at a neighbour’s home with her daughter.
Although she did not initially appear seriously injured, her condition worsened two days later. A scan later revealed bleeding in her brain, and she died in hospital on Feb. 25, 2025.
A postmortem found she died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Defense counsel Jane Hyland described the case as a tragedy for the family, saying Ogbo’s mental state was severely impaired at the time of the incident.
She said he had a close relationship with his grandmother and was devastated by her death.
The defense also argued that Ogbo could have met the threshold for a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity had the case gone to trial.
Judge Behan criticized failures in the mental health system, saying the death could have been prevented and describing “unforgivable failures” in psychiatric care and support services.
The court considered Ogbo’s early guilty plea, lack of prior convictions and family support in sentencing him to five years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended. He will serve three and a half years.
His sentence was backdated to Feb. 27, 2025, when he was first remanded in custody. The court also ordered that he continue engaging with mental health and probation services after his release.
