Murder Antidepressants 15/01/2008 Ireland Women Psychiatrist Kills 16 Year Old Daughter: Falsely Believed Daughter Had Anorexia Summary:

Paragraph 5 reads:  "His semi-conscious wife, who had taken a cocktail of sleeping tablets and anti-depressants, was wet on the bedroom floor."

Paragraphs 10 & 11 read:  "By that September Mrs Gibbs began suffering from sleepless nights, weight loss and depression, had stopped working, and had visited a number of doctors who had prescribed medication."

"The court heard although a doctor was concerned that Ciara was about a stone  [14 lbs]  underweight, they believed Mrs Gibbs had become obsessed with it and had an inappropriate gloomy outlook in to her daughter's medical prognosis."


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Psychiatrist 'drowned daughter', 16, in bathtub because she believed teen was 'depressed about anorexia'

Last updated at 00:37am on 16th January 2008 A psychiatrist drowned her daughter in a bath to end her depression from anorexia, a court heard.

Lynn Gibbs told investigators she also plotted to kill herself with an overdose, because she was so depressed at her daughter's decline in health.

Dublin's Central Criminal Court heard the 16-year-old's body was found by her heartbroken father on the floor of an en-suite bathroom.  

His semi-conscious wife, who had taken a cocktail of sleeping tablets and anti-depressants, was wet on the bedroom floor.

"I remember being very low," she later told Gardai, Irish police.

"I believed there was no hope for Ciara or myself. I planned that we'd both die."

Mrs Gibbs, 47, from Killure in Gowran, Co Kilkenny, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but the prosecution say she admits to killing her daughter on grounds of insanity.

Prosecuting Brendan Grehan SC said Mrs Gibbs and her husband Gerard were first concerned their daughter had an eating disorder during the summer of 2006 after an exchange trip, deportment course and family holiday.

By that September Mrs Gibbs began suffering from sleepless nights, weight loss and depression, had stopped working, and had visited a number of doctors who had prescribed medication.

The court heard although a doctor was concerned that Ciara was about a stone underweight, they believed Mrs Gibbs had become obsessed with it and had an inappropriate gloomy outlook in to her daughter's medical prognosis.

Two psychiatrist experts said Mrs Gibbs had been suffering from a major depressive disorder on the night she killed her daughter and driven by a powerful sense of hopelessness that there was no future for them both.

"Lynn Gibbs felt her daughter was in a state of severe suffering that wasn't going to go but that was going to persist," said Prof Thomas Fahey, of the Institute of Psychiatry.

"She felt through a type of distorted responsibility that came from her emotions she should act to relieve her daughter from her suffering and take her own life at the same time."

Prof Fahey said Mrs Gibbs also began to have "fleeting" thoughts on suicide which she kept to herself.

A heartbroken Mr Gibbs, a college lecturer, sobbed openly as he told the court he and his son Gearoid, 14, were visiting his elderly mother over night when the tragedy occurred.

He found his daughter lying on the bathroom floor, with her pyjama top wet.

The youngster died sometime between 11pm on November 25, 2006 and 10am on November 26.

State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, said the teenager died from drowning with internal bruising at the back of the head, shoulders and rib cage revealing the youngster had had her head held under the water.

Mrs Gibbs - who was wet and had knife marks to her wrists - was rushed to St Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, and transferred to St Patrick's in Dublin before being committed to the Central Mental Hospital where she has been undergoing intense treatment.

The devastated dad said his wife and daughter had an excellent relationship and they had an excellent marriage.

"She loved Ciara," he whispered in tears.

Flanked by two women, the psychiatrist showed no emotion while details of what happened that tragic night unfolded.

Leading investigator Superintendent Aidan Roche said she told gardai that although she could hardly recall the night concerned she remembered running a bath, calling Ciara in to her room, and did not think there had been a struggle.

"I recall pushing her underneath the water," she said.

"I recall taking her out of the bath. I think she was dead at that stage. "I got in to the bath after taking the medication.

"I went under the water but I wasn't able to stay under. I don't recall when I cut my wrists."

Mr Grehan told the jury of nine women and three men that in order to return a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity they had to be satisfied the accused did not know the nature or the quality of the act, she didn't know it was wrong, or was unable to refrain from doing the act.

The court heard the accused was put on sleeping tablets when she went to boarding school at 12, suffered an eating disorder at 17, a bout of clinical depression and attempted suicide at 20 while studying medicine at Trinity College, and that her mother had taken her own life at the age of 49 by drinking weed killer.

Prof Fahey said Mrs Gibbs had developed a coping mechanism of compartmentalising problems and this was the first time in her married or family life she had something very serious to worry about.

He agreed with Dr Cleo Van Velsen, a consultant psychiatrist in forensic psychotherapy, that Mrs Gibbs suffered from two of the criteria needed to be found not guilty by reason of insanity.

"In her own mind she thought it was the right thing to do," added Dr Van Velsen. "She had an overwhelming sense of compassion and couldn't refrain."

Although now in remission from the episode, Prof Fahey said Mrs Gibbs remains on anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication in the Central Mental Hospital and appealed for assistance for her family.

Mr Justice Paul Carney told the packed courtroom that the particular verdict being sought could only be returned by a jury once the case was heard in an open court.

The case continues.