A 39-year-old Nigerian 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 episode.
According to reports by the Irish Mirror, Ogbo was sentenced by the Cork Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his grandmother at their family home in Carrigaline, County Cork, on February 23, 2025.
The court heard that Ogbo moved from Nigeria to Ireland in December 2024 to reunite with his mother, Ruby Ogbo, and grandmother. His mother had reportedly struggled to secure anti-psychotic medication for him after he missed two monthly injections for schizophrenia treatment.
Judge Sinead Behan said Ogbo was clearly experiencing a psychotic episode during the incident and criticised failures in the mental health system, saying the death could “arguably have been prevented.”
Detective Garda Tom Delaney told the court that Ogbo became violent after damaging parts of the house and attacking his mother. He later forced his grandmother downstairs after breaking into the bathroom where she had hidden.
Although the elderly woman initially appeared stable, her condition worsened and she died two days later from blunt force trauma to the head.
Defence counsel Jane Hyland described the incident as a tragedy for both the family and Ogbo, noting that he had always shared a close relationship with his grandmother.
The court sentenced him to five years imprisonment but suspended the final 18 months, taking into account his guilty plea, lack of previous convictions and ongoing mental health treatment.
