Man Assaults Woman When Voices Tell Him to Kill Her
Summary:
Paragaph 10 reads: "The woman drank only one pint of cider and blackcurrant but O'Reilly drank between six and eight litres, as well as taking painkillers and anti-depressants."
SSRI Stories Note: The Physicians Desk Reference states that antidepressants can cause a craving for alcohol and can cause alcohol abuse. Also, the liver cannot metabolize the antidepressant and the alcohol simultaneously, thus leading to higher levels of both alcohol and the antidepressant in the human body.
A woman thought she was going to die when her on-off lover heard voices telling him to kill her, a court heard.
David O'Reilly had been drinking cider and taking drugs at the 39-year-old woman's house when he launched the attack.
O'Reilly, 32, said to himself: "No, I'm not going to kill her" then "Yes I am" advocate depute Ashley Edwards, prosecuting, told the High Court in Edinburgh.
During the attack which followed, he tried to smash a 5lb kettle bell weight into the woman's face and throttled her until she passed out.
Police were called to the house in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, after neighbours heard her screams.
O'Reilly, formerly of the city's Longstone Road, was accused of attempted rape and attempted murder after the incident on October 20, 2009.
In court his guilty plea to a much reduced charge of assaulting the woman to her injury was accepted.
Ms Edwards said O'Reilly and the woman met in 2008. O'Reilly visited her occasionally, sleeping on a mattress in her living room. Their relationship was described as being "a close friendship" at the time of the attack.
Ms Edwards described how the couple spent most of October 19 drinking cider and watching TV.
The woman drank only one pint of cider and blackcurrant but O'Reilly drank between six and eight litres, as well as taking painkillers and anti-depressants.
Ms Edwards said: "Both parties had been enjoying their evening laughing and joking together when, at around midnight, the accused's mood changed without any warning.
"He was anxious and angry and acted bizarrely speaking and arguing with persons who were not there.
"The woman later told police that O'Reilly seemed to be talking to two people - one telling him to hurt her and the other not to hurt her. O'Reilly then turned on the woman, grabbed her hair and pulled her across the mattress, face down, then flipped her over and picked up the kettle bell weight. He tried to hit her in the face but her struggles prevented him doing so.
"The woman was terrified that should the accused be successful in striking her on the head with the weight she would be killed," said Ms Edwards.
When police ended her three-hour ordeal they found the woman bruised and in a distressed state.
When the officers told him what his victim had said he told them he felt sick. Lord Uist called for background reports and remanded O'Reilly in custody pending sentence.