A "solitary and sad" man who killed his 88-year-old mother by setting fire to her home will require support in the community after he is released from prison, a Central Criminal Court judge has said.
Defence counsel for Geunter Lohse (63) told the court that the defendant's family have long suspected he suffers from schizophrenia but he had never been seen by an expert and had no prior diagnosis of mental illness.
Lohse admitted to starting the fire and later told gardai that he had wanted to commit suicide.
Lohse pleaded guilty earlier this year to unlawfully killing his mother Ruth Lohse by arson at the house they shared in Coolvoy, Doochary, Co Donegal on April 12, 2022.
Ms Lohse, a grandmother, was described as the "heart and soul" who kept her family together.
Having moved to Donegal from Germany in 2016, she had grown to love its people, beaches and coastline, her son Kurt Lohse said in a written statement.
The court heard that Geunter moved to Ireland with his mother. He had lived with her all his life and in the days before the killing he was upset that the family had planned to send him back to Germany but to keep his mother in Donegal.
Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing BL, representing Lohse, said his client presents as a "solitary and sad individual who finds himself on his own and needs significant supports". Mr Ó Dúnlaing said Lohse's family had long suspected that he suffered from schizophrenia but he had never been seen by an expert and had no prior diagnosis of mental illness.
Ms Justice Melanie Greally asked for a probation report to be prepared and adjourned sentencing until July 29. The judge said she also wants to consider psychiatric and psychological reports that were prepared in advance of the hearing. She said that in the "absence of family support", Lohse will "require some structure in the community when he does conclude his prison sentence."
Garda Ciara Gibbons told prosecution counsel Philipp Rahn SC that when firefighters arrived at the scene they found Ms Lohse seated in an armchair in the sitting room of her home. Three fires had been lit in the house using matches but no accelerant and a post mortem showed that Ms Lohse died from inhaling fumes.
Kurt Lohse, Geunter's brother, told gardai that he and his wife moved from Germany to Donegal in 2000 and in 2016 his mother and Geunter joined them. Geunter lived with his mother in the bungalow at Coolvoy which was rented from a local couple.
By 2022 their mother's health was deteriorating and they suspected she was developing dementia. The family put together a care plan that included Geunter moving back to Germany to live on his own. Geunter "wasn't particularly happy about that", Kurt told gardai, and became annoyed and distressed when the family began cleaning out the house at Coolvoy.
The day before the fire there was a confrontation when the family discovered that Geunter had written obscene and abusive messages into greeting cards that had been received from other family members.
At about 4.30pm the following day Kurt arrived at the house and described seeing thick black smoke and Geunter climbing out the bathroom window wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Geunter complained he was cold and needed a drink of milk.
When gardai arrived, Lohse admitted to starting the fire and during subsequent interviews at Ballyshannon Garda Station he said he had wanted to commit suicide. He told gardai he tried to move his mother but couldn't and tried to put the fire out but "it was going too fast"
Lohse has no previous convictions, Garda Gibbons said.
Mr Rahn said the Director of Public Prosecutions puts the offence in the higher category, carrying a headline sentence of between 15 to 20 years. However, he said that the director had not seen Lohse's psychiatric reports before offering that instruction.
Garda Gibbons agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that the Lohse family believed that Geunter suffered from schizophrenia but he had never seen an expert or been diagnosed. Kurt suggested that Geunter had been deprived of oxygen when he was born, said that he struggled at school and found learning difficult. In the lead-up to the fire Geunter had been displaying "very odd behaviour", the garda said.
During his garda interviews, Lohse broke down crying and apologised to his family and to gardai. He also told them: "I had no intention to do what I did."
In his submissions, Mr Ó Dúnlaing disagreed with the headline suggested by the prosecution and asked the court to consider the psychiatric reports. He pointed out that Lohse made admissions at the scene and during his interviews. He is "deeply apologetic" for what he did and "apologises for the hurt and pain he has caused his own family. He knows he will have to be punished for that," counsel said.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said a difficulty arises as to what to do when Lohse is released from custody.
Lohse had been charged with the murder of his mother but the director accepted a plea to manslaughter. The court will take into account a charge of arson arising from the same incident.
No members of the Lohse family attended court today but in a written statement read out by Mr Rahn, Kurt Lohse said his grandmother was the "heart and soul who kept the family going".
She loved Donegal, he said, its beaches, coastline and people. He described the devastation the family has felt, the "horror, screams, feeling of being helpless, the nightmare".
He said the fact they moved their mother to Donegal so that she could spend time with her family in her old age makes the tragedy even more heartbreaking
