Man who dragged grandmother down the stairs causing her death is jailed

Olivia Kelleher

A man who dragged his elderly grandmother down the stairs causing her death at a time when he was without a vital anti psychotic injection for schizophrenia, has been jailed for three and a half years.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that Brian Nnadi Ogbo moved to Ireland from Nigeria in December 2024 to be reunited with his mother Ruby and his 82-year-old grandmother Stella Ejiatu Nnadi.

Ruby Ogbo, who is a social worker by profession, had made desperate efforts to obtain an anti psychotic drug injection for her 39-year-old son Brian.

Ruby had become increasingly concerned by the marked decrease in the mental health of her son. He had missed two monthly injections whilst she attempted to navigate the mental health system in this country.

An injection treatment offer for Brian arrived in the post two days after the unlawful killing occurred.

In November of last year, Ogbo pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his grandmother Stella at the family home in Carrigaline, Co Cork on February 23rd, 2025.

Judge Sinead Behan noted that Ogbo was “in the obvious throes of a psychotic episode” when he broke down the bathroom door in the house on Garrydhu Drive and dragged his grandmother down the stairs.

Det Garda Tom Delaney had told the court that Ogbo had been pacing around the house in the hours before the offence. He had eaten all the food in the property and had destroyed the kitchen.

Dt Garda Delaney said that Ogbo told his mother that people were looking for money from him and asked her where she got her money.

“She told him she worked hard for it. She threatened to take his phone off him and remove the WiFi in the house.

"Ruby Ogbo took the WI-FI internet box out of the house. She exited the house and was followed by the accused, who had blue-handled scissors in his hand. He threatened to cut the wires in the house before putting the scissors on the ground.

"Ogbo pushed Ruby to the ground in the kitchen and punched her in the head while she was on the ground.”

Det Garda Delaney said that Ogbo then went upstairs looking for his grandmother Stella, who was in the bathroom.

“He shouted at her to open the door. The deceased shouted, “Oh my God. Oh my God.’ Ruby fled the house to get help. Ruby told her neighbour that her son was going to kill her mother and that he had a knife.

"Ogbo broke down the bathroom door and dragged his grandmother, Stella. He dragged her by the arm down the stairs first and pushed her out the front door. Stella managed to make her way of the house and into the neighbour's house and joined her daughter Ruby.”

Ogbo was arrested under the Mental Health Act and taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH). He was examined, discharged and given a letter to attend the hospital on a voluntary basis.

Stella Nnadi didn’t appear to require hospitalisation at the time of the attack.

However, two days later her condition deteriorated, and she was taken to CUH where a scan showed a bleed on the brain. She died in the hospital on February 25th, 2025.

Defence senior counsel, Jane Hyland, described what had occurred as “a tragedy for the family and also a tragedy for Mr Ogbo.”

She said that her client had always enjoyed a close relationship with his grandmother and had minded her at various intervals in his life.

Hyland said that Ogbo was “devastated” by the loss of his grandmother.

She said that the mental state of the accused was so impaired at the time of the offence that he was “unable to refrain from committing the act.”

She also indicated that her client satisfied the criteria for being found not guilty by reason of insanity if he had chosen to contest the case.

Ogbo told gardaí that he only picked up the knife as he wanted to “scare people away”

He said that her could recall his grandmother going “face down, first, down the stairs.”

A postmortem examination revealed that the pensioner died of blunt force trauma to her head as a result of being forced down the stairs.

Hyland said that Ruby Ogbo had expressed a willingness to support her son with his medical care following his release from custody.

Family members of Ogbo gave character references in the case.

One of his sisters said that her “kind and intelligent” brother had been stigmatised in Nigeria following his diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2017.

She said that Ogbo was of good character and a loving disposition.

The case was previously adjourned so that a treatment plan could be put in place.

Judge Behan noted “the lack of appropriate treatment and intervention” in the case and said that the death could “arguably have been prevented.”

Judge Behan stressed that there were “unforgivable failures” in the mental health system.

There is a current lack of capacity in the Central Mental Hospital for Ogbo and an absence of appropriate support.

The Judge said that she couldn’t keep adjourning the case as a plea was entered last year.

Taking the early plea, the lack of previous convictions and the family support in the case into consideration, she jailed Ogbo for five years, suspending the last 18 months of the sentence.

Ogbo has to engage with mental health services and with the probation service upon his release from prison.

The sentence was backdated to February 27th, 2025, when he first entered custody.