‘My brother was ditched by medical authorities’

A MAN has claimed at an inquest that his 49-year-old brother who suffered from long-term paranoid schizophrenia had been “basically ditched” by the public health and social services.

Adrian Weckler was speaking about his late brother Simon who died at his home at Mornington on 31st March last year. Simon Weckler was a son of the RTE newsreader and author, the late Deirdre Purcell.

Adrian Weckler, his brother’s primary carer and advocate after their mother passed away in 2023, gave Coroner for Co Meath Nathaniel Lacy -who conducted the inquest - a history of his brother’s illness, saying that he had suffered from the condition for 20 years and was prescribed a lot of medication and was unable to work.

He lived in an annex at the rear of the family home in Mornington. Living a good distance apart, contact with Simon was mainly by phone, Adrian Weckler said. Simon had also been in constant contact with his step father Kevin Healy, Mornington.

“Simon was socially isolated despite a handful of friends and their loyalty to him. My last conversation with Simon was on 24th March 2025

“He asked me to bring him to Blanchardstown to see a priest whom he thought might perform an exorcism for him. I half-heartedly agreed to bring him. The conversation was pleasant and ended well. I then rang Simon on 26th March because I wanted to discuss a new course of treatment in a HSE specialist unit in Highfield, Drumcondra and I needed permission from him to advocate on his behalf. He didn’t answer the phone and I sent a text message but did not get a reply”.

He checked again on the 27th March but did not get a response. Another message was sent to Simon on 28th March and there was no response. On 30th March he and Kevin made several attempts to make contact. Mr Weckler said he got a message from Kevin saying that Simon had passed away.

In reply to questions from the coroner Mr Weckler said that Simon at been many times an in-patient at Highfield, Drumcondra. He had also been in St Patrick’s, John of Gods and latterly Highfield. He had brought Simon to his GP who had singed forms to have Simon involuntarily admitted at Crosslanes mental health facility in Drogheda.

“They frankly did not want to keep him there so he agreed to go to Highfield which is a residential care facility.

“He went there for several months and at a certain point they couldn’t do any more for him an discharged him back to Drogheda. He wasn’t fit to be discharged publicly. Within 10 days he was out of Drogheda and a week later he was passed.”

Asked by the coroner if there had been an after care system put in place, Mr Weckler replied: “Little to none. I’m not aware of the specifics but typically there was very little. There was a system of social welfare and social care in place but that had become very strained and threadbare. There wasn’t much engagement with Simon at all from that particular service. The Drogheda facility is an acute facility and they try to keep people a week or two weeks unless there is a serious risk of somebody doing violence or whatever. The process was in-patient care in a private hospital, get decent care, doesn’t necessarily respond well to it, back out to public care and they just want to get rid of him. Then he lasted just a week after that”.

He said he got out of Crosslanes Drogheda and went back into the annexe at home, “was in a shocking state, frankly”.

“So I was engaging with him at that time, discussing next moves. The next move that we wanted, and he too wanted, was the specialist unit at Highfield”.

In the week following his discharge from Drogheda there had been no contact from mental health or community services.

“I got a call from his social worker about two weeks after he passed away saying that his phone wasn’t responsive and could I get a message to Simon. They had no idea. Drogheda didn’t know he had passed away, the social welfare didn’t know he had passed away. He was basically ditched”.

Kevin Healy in a statement read to the inquest by Garda Inspector Alan Roughneen said that he often collected medical prescriptions for Simon. He was almost sure he collected a prescription on 24th March and passed it to Simon at his door. They had a conversation and he highlighted to Simon the chemist’s advice that this was not a repeat prescription.

The last time he had a conversation was either on 26th or 27th and he was “agitated and concerned that he was under threat from people and advised me that I was at risk as well”.

“I did not get into this with Simon and advised that he contact his doctor as he had only been released from Crosslanes the week previous having been transferred from Highfield”.

By 30th March he became concerned when he hadn’t seen or heard from him.

On Monday 31st he decided to visit the annex and found Simon deceased.

Consultant pathologist Professor Muna Sabah who conducted a post mortem said the only abnormality shown in the body was the liver which showed steatosis.

The deceased’s blood sample was negative for alcohol. He had a mixture of medication present. Two of the prescribed drugs were present at therapeutic levels, however clozapine (used to treat schizophrenia) at “lethal” levels (10 times the therapeutic levels).

She concluded that death was due to drug toxicity and a verdict to this effect was returned by the coroner.

He and Inspector Roughneen extended their condolences to the family of the deceased.