Latest news with #CuanMhuire
BreakingNews.ie
08-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (29) told gardaí that 'thoughts in his head' led him to slash victim's neck
A man told gardaí he slashed the neck of a fellow resident at an addiction treatment centre because of 'thoughts and images' in his head that his family would be murdered, a court heard on Tuesday. Sean Beumer (29) pleaded 'not guilty by reason of insanity' on the opening day of his trial to charges of assaulting the victim causing him harm and to producing a improvised 'shiv' or knife during the attack. Advertisement The trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard that the victim told gardaí he was attacked from behind by Mr Beumer and had his neck 'slashed'. Mr Beumer, with an address at Edenmore Crescent, Raheny, Dublin 5, told gardaí the 'thoughts' in his head had 'brainwashed' him into erroneously believing that he and his family would be murdered, and that if he hurt another person he would save himself and his family from harm's way. At the time Mr Beumer was residing at Cuan Mhuire addiction treatment centre in Bruree, Co Limerick, where he and the victim were participating in an alcohol detox programme. The trial, before Judge Colin Daly and a jury of seven men and five women, heard that Mr Beumer's previously prescribed medications were 'discontinued' in line with normal detox protocols at the centre. Advertisement Mr Beumer had been admitted to the alcohol detox programme on November 29th, 2019, and the attack on the victim occurred 15 days later on December 13th. Sergeant Larkin agreed with the accused's barrister, senior counsel Lorcan Connolly, who said that Mr Beumer told gardaí that the urge to harm someone in order to relieve his bad thoughts was 'building' throughout the days he was off his medication 'and he cracked'. The attack occurred at the smoking area of the treatment centre at around 1.30am on the morning in question. After his arrest Mr Beumer told gardaí: 'I went into the smoking room and put him [the victim] into a sleeper hold and tried to cut his face.' Advertisement 'It was all building up after 10 days, all these thoughts, I just exploded,' Mr Beumer said. Mr Beumer told gardaí he was 'relived' when he carried out the attack , although he said his intention was to 'cut' the man's 'face' but he 'couldn't see in the dark'. He told gardaí that after the attack he put his bloodied hoody top in a bin. Sergeant Larkin told the court that after he arrived at the scene later on the morning he found Mr Beumer in his room kneeling and praying by his bed. Advertisement Sergeant Larkin agreed with Mr Connolly that the accused had expressed remorse and he was cooperative with the Garda investigation. The court heard Mr Beumer told gardaí the attack was 'not personal'. 'He [the victim] was the only [resident] awake, it was not personal, I was doing it to save my family,' Mr Beumer told gardai. 'I was brainwashed into thinking it was the right thing to do.' Advertisement 'I was ill, sick, depressed, I was asking to leave and they said 'No', I didn't know what else to do,' Mr Beamer told gardaí. When asked if he had wanted to kill the victim, Mr Beumer told gardaí: 'No, just hurt him'. 'Yeah I did it, I'm admitting to it because I don't want it hanging over me.' 'I'm so sorry for what i done, I was pressurised into doing it.' Mr Beumer claimed that another resident, whose name he couldn't remember, had shown him how to make a weapon by fixing unguarded razors to the plastic handle of a disposable razor. The court heard that the victim and the accused had become friends while resident at the centre and they had been playing checkers together in Mr Beumer's room moments before the attack. CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Beumer following the victim out of the room towards the smoking area. The footage showed the victim later with blood around his neck approaching a nurse at the centre. Sergeant Larkin said one of the victim's slash wounds ran across the length of his neck. Sergeant Larkin said one of the centre's staff members, Sr Agnes Fitzgerald, had 'innocently' cleaned up some of the blood at the scene as she was 'not forensically aware'. Sr Fitzgerald told gardaí that she handed the weapon used in the attack to gardai after it was found by a volunteer staff member Michael Barrett. A forensic scientist attached to the State science laboratory described the weapon as a 'shiv' or makeshift knife. Michael Barrett told gardaí the shiv 'was like something you'd see in the movies' and that he saw 'a lot of blood' near the scene leading towards the victim's room, which was situated two doors from Mr Beumer's room. Mr Barrett said he saw 'cuts to [the victim's] neck' and that Mr Beumer was 'praying and kneeling at his bed' before going for 'a shower'. A staff nurse who was on duty on the night in question told gardai that the victim approached her bleeding from his neck and hand. The nurse said she 'applied pressure' to the victim's wounds and brought hm to his room as Gardai and an ambulance were alerted. Garda David Hggins, of Bruff station, said he found the victim had suffered 'a slashed throat' and he had taken a formal statement from the man and secured his clothing for forensic tests. A medical report sustained three lacerations to his neck, including one which was seven niches in length, as well as a laceration to his hand. The victim told gardaí a man he believed to be Mr Beumer, whom he called 'the Dub', had 'slashed open my neck'. The man said he had 'no idea why the attack happened'. 'I got choked out from behind. When I woke I saw blood dripping everywhere. I remember being choked and being told 'go to sleep',' the man told gardai. Blood samples taken from a hoody top worn by Mr Beumer when he said he attacked the victim were forensically examined and found to be a match for the victim's DNA. The trial continues on Wednesday.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
NI gambling: Recovering addict urges others to seek support
A recovering gambling addict is urging others to not "suffer in silence" as new official figures reveal that problem gambling levels in Northern Ireland remain at a similar level as Kerr said his addiction started when he was 15 years old, by 18 he was a "full-blown gambling addict". Two years later he was in a rehabilitation facility."It started off small and just kept growing and growing, I've lost thousands," Mr Kerr told BBC News NI. What is problem gambling? Problem gambling is gambling which compromises, disrupts or damages the individual or their family, as well as their daily life and Ireland has the highest rate of problem gamblers in the United Kingdom, based on the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).In 2024, 3% of respondents in Northern Ireland were considered to be a problem gambler, the Northern Ireland Research Agency (NISRA) has figure is similar to that in previous years: in 2016, problem gambler levels in Northern Ireland were at 2% and 3% in England, Scotland and Wales, 2.5% of respondents in 2023 were found to be problem gamblers, according to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB). What is the PGSI? The PGSI assesses how prevalent problem gambling is within a asks respondents to assess their own gambling habits over the previous 12 questions are then scored and any total PGSI score above eight puts the individual in the "problem gambler" group. Mr Kerr, who was a champion runner for Ireland in the European Cross Country, has been recovering from his gambling addiction for more than 15 years. Despite rehab intervention, Mr Kerr, like many addicts, found himself battling multiple addictions including alcohol and drugs. In 2021 he sought further help from Cuan Mhuire which he credits with saving his life. 'Don't wait to hit rock bottom' Mr Kerr described gambling addiction as a "weird one" compared to alcohol and drug addictions because it can be so easily 32 year old said that having good people around him has been key to his forward Mr Kerr said he would like to see greater support for those affected and encouraged women to talk more about gambling addiction to help address the stigma associated with the illness."An addiction's an addiction, you're sick, you need help and once you reach out then you have to grab it with both hands."Mr Kerr has used social media to reach out and support people going through addiction."Don't suffer in silence, reach out, but reach out to the right people, be it to gamblers anonymous groups or somebody going through recovery online."Don't wait to hit rock bottom for every rock bottom is a trap door," he said. What else did the statistics reveal? In 2024, 57% of surveyed adults said they gambled in the last 12 months, which is a decrease from the 2016 and 2010 survey, the Nisra study most popular method of gambling in 2024 was in-person with National Lottery draw tickets being the most common gambling new laws in 2022 allowing betting shops and bingo halls in Northern Ireland to open later on a Sunday, 89% of surveyed adults said they have never bet on a Sunday. What are NI's gambling laws? The current laws contained in the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order date back to 1985There is no single independent regulatory body for gambling in Northern IrelandCourts and councils license gambling activities, the Department for Communities is responsible for track betting licences and enforcement lies with the policeThe 1985 order predates the development of the internet and therefore contains no provisions relating to online gamblingNI consumers are offered some protection through laws in Great BritainThere are also no provisions requiring the gambling industry in NI to make any contribution to funding support services for problem gamblingNI laws were last updated in 2022 to allow for extended opening hours for bookmakers and bingo halls
