ELDERLY MAN WITH DEMENTIA IS SPARED PRISON AFTER KILLING WIFE
A pensioner who killed his wife of over 50 years was spared a jail sentence yesterday after a judge decided imposing a pub ban would be "more meaningful" than prison.Edward Flaherty, 74, who is suffering from dementia, was convicted of strangling 69-year-old Ina Flaherty with a tie and was placed on a year-long Restriction of Liberty Order by judge Lord Matthews.
The Crown Office is expected today to consider whether to make a case to appeal against the sentence imposed at the High Court in Glasgow.
Flaherty, who was found guilty of culpable homicide, will be tagged and banned from leaving his Glasgow home between the hours of 11am and 11pm.
Lord Matthews said Flaherty's dementia made him unsuited to prison and the order was aimed at keeping him in his home in Glasgow's Drygate area during pub opening hours.
Lord Matthews told him: "You were found guilty of the culpable homicide of your wife who you were together with for many years.
In normal circumstances this would attract a prison sentence in double figures." "I have read and considered a number of reports from experts.
It is plain to me that if I were to impose that sort of sentence you would be released in a very short time because prison would not be able to cope with your condition.
Sentencing you would just be a token gesture.
I am anxious to impose a sentence that restricts your liberty." "You still go to the pub where you went with your wife.
That must annoy her relatives.
Not being able to go there will be a more meaningful disposal than a prison sentence which will not last long." During the trial the jury heard that Flaherty could not remember throttling his wife in April last year after she refused to give him money to go to the pub.
Flaherty, of Gibson Heights, Drygate, who has had three heart attacks, could not even remember who the Prime Minister was and called him "that curly headed bloke".
When asked who killed her, he said: "It must have been me.
There are no ghosts running about the house who would have done that." The High Court in Glasgow was told that, in a medical report prepared for the court, Flaherty claimed he had killed his sister instead because she was cheeky.
Donald MacLeod, QC, defending, said that this was a "clear sign of confusion".
He said: "The report prepared for the court paints a picture of a man in significant physical and mental decline.
"There is a clear diagnosis of dementia setting in.
It is a progressive condition and ultimately he will need 24-hour care.
I am deeply conscious there has been a death here, but this man is very unwell.
He was always willing to plead guilty to culpable homicide, but this was flatly rejected by the Crown and that is why a trial was necessary." Some jurors wept as Flaherty told the court how he and Ina had a "strong and firm" marriage.
He had never once struck her in all these years, and she had never hit him.
There was concern in some quarters over the judge's sentence.
Paul Martin, Labour's justice spokesman, said: "It is important that this man is given the treatment he needs for his mental health condition, but it is also vital that the public is properly protected." According to the Scottish Government, Restriction of Liberty Orders were put forward for use broadly as a "high tariff" community sentence imposed as an option in cases where they might otherwise be thinking of "a prison sentence or another community penalty that would impose substantial demands on the offender".
The tagging order involves the wearing of an electronic transmitter on the ankle or wrist which emits a signal that is picked up by a monitoring unit when the offender is within range.
