A 39-year-old Nigerian man based in Ireland, Brian Ogbo, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for killing his 82-year-old grandmother, Stella Nnadi, during what an Irish court described as a severe psychotic breakdown.
Ogbo was sentenced by the Cork Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter over the incident, which occurred at the family’s residence in Carrigaline, County Cork, on February 23, 2025.
According to reports from the Irish Mirror, Ogbo had relocated from Nigeria to Ireland in December 2024 to reunite with his mother, Ruby Ogbo, and his grandmother.
The court heard that Brian Ogbo had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017 and was receiving treatment before travelling abroad.
His mother, who works as a social worker, reportedly made repeated attempts to secure his anti-psychotic medication after he arrived in Ireland.
However, difficulties within the Irish mental healthcare system allegedly caused delays in treatment, resulting in Ogbo missing two scheduled monthly injections before the tragic incident.
Presiding judge Sinead Behan reportedly stated that the defendant was clearly experiencing a severe psychotic episode at the time of the attack.
Detective Garda Tom Delaney told the court that Ogbo had spent hours pacing around the house on the day of the incident.
He allegedly damaged parts of the kitchen and consumed most of the food available in the home.
According to the detective, tensions escalated after his grandmother complained about the food being eaten and threatened to confiscate his phone and disconnect the home’s WiFi.
The court heard that Ruby later removed the internet router from the house before leaving, but Ogbo allegedly pursued her with a pair of scissors.
Delaney told the court that Ogbo pushed his mother to the kitchen floor and repeatedly punched her before turning his attention to his grandmother, who had locked herself inside a bathroom upstairs.
“He shouted at her to open the door while she screamed for help,” the detective reportedly said.
Ruby reportedly escaped from the house and alerted neighbours, warning them that her son intended to kill her mother.
The court heard that Ogbo eventually forced open the bathroom door, dragged the elderly woman downstairs, and pushed her outside the house.
Although Stella Nnadi initially appeared not to have sustained life-threatening injuries, her condition reportedly worsened two days later.
Medical examinations later revealed bleeding in her brain, and she died in the hospital on February 25, 2025.
A postmortem examination concluded that she died from blunt force trauma to the head after being forced down the stairs during the attack.
Defence lawyer Jane Hyland described the incident as a devastating tragedy for the entire family, stressing that Ogbo had shared a close bond with his grandmother throughout his life.
She argued that his mental condition at the time was so severe that he was incapable of controlling his actions and noted that the case could potentially have qualified for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity if it had gone through a full trial.
Judge Behan also criticised lapses in the mental healthcare system, stating that the tragedy might have been prevented with adequate psychiatric support and timely treatment.
The court further heard that an appointment letter for Ogbo’s psychiatric treatment reportedly arrived by post just two days after the killing.
While sentencing Brian Ogbo, the judge considered his early guilty plea, lack of previous criminal convictions, and support from family members.
Ogbo was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended. The sentence was backdated to February 27, 2025, when he was first remanded in custody.
The court also ordered that he must continue engaging with mental health professionals and probation services after his release.
Read Also: Nigerian man sentenced in Ireland for armed robbery targeting students
