A then-19 year old who tried to murder his mother by deliberately setting fire to their home, before locking her inside and throwing away the keys, is to serve out a 10-year suspended sentence under the supervision of mental health care services.
At the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, Camden Konopka, now aged 24, was given a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of his mother in what Mr Justice Tony Hunt described as a “distressing” case.
Last December, Konopka, with an address at Castleview Court, Delvin, Co Meath, entered guilty pleas to attempting to murder Fiona Konopka at Coille Dios, Athboy, Co Meath, on September 19th, 2019, and causing criminal damage with the intention of endangering life on the same date. He has a history of mental illness.
Mr Justice Hunt said he would backdate the sentence to May 2020 and that the balance of this sentence would be suspended for 10 years, during which time he is to be put under the supervision of Nua Healthcare Services.
The judge said that Konopka suffered with a “mental difficulty” and had an “unfortunate upbringing” but that this was no reflection on his mother. Mr Justice Hunt said both mother and son had been involved in “a very, very sad case”.
Mr Justice Hunt said the balance of the sentence to be served would be suspended for 10 years from Thursday and commented that the “punitive element of the sentence had been adequately addressed”. Konopka has been in custody for over four years.
Mr Justice Hunt said he had confidence in the mental health professionals supporting Konopka, adding that the sentence was structured to minimise any future harm to the defendant and to those around him and was “in the interest of society, generally”.
Konopka is to reside at a location under the supervision of Nua Healthcare for 10 years. Mr Justice Hunt said that if Konopka left that location without notification to staff, or did not take his medication, he would be a breach of his bond.
Appropriate channels
Konopka is also to follow all directions and requirements of Nua staff during that 10-year period and is ordered not to directly contact his mother for life, unless she chooses to resume communication through appropriate channels.
Mr Justice Hunt described the matter as a “very difficult type of case” that had “distressing” elements to it.
At a sentence hearing in December, the court heard that Fiona Konopka saw "a lifetime of work destroyed", when over €60,000 in damage to her home was caused in the fire started by her son, who told gardaí he consumed opium on the day before he took antidepressant tablets and drank wine as he was feeling suicidal.
Detective Sergeant Mark Looby gave evidence to Ronan Kennedy SC, for the State, that two days previously the defendant’s mother had brought him to a psychologist, as there was an investigation ongoing into a possible diagnosis of Aspergers.
Det Sgt Looby said that Ms Konopka had ongoing difficulty with her son arising from his use of alcohol and drugs. She had kicked him out a few times because of his threatening behaviour and obtained a protection order, but then his attitude improved, and she had the order lifted. However, in July 2019, she got a safety order as he was making threats to kill her.
Det Sgt Looby said that the defendant was hearing voices and suffered under the delusion he was God, so to get help for him his mother went to a psychologist.
On the day of the fire, Ms Konopka was “down in herself,” said Det Sgt Looby, and she went to bed at 9pm. Her bedroom was always locked as she kept medication and money there and her son had stolen things before.
At around 10pm she heard her son knocking on her door asking for medication for a bad migraine, but she said he had his own medication and should go back to his own room. Ms Konopka said she had a bad feeling because he was knocking very intensely on the door, and he had previously been addicted to medication.
Det Sgt Looby said that the defendant persisted in asking for medication, but his mother ignored the request and shouted “No” through the door to him. She said if he did not stop, she would have to call the gardaí.
He stopped knocking, and she thought matters had settled down, but five minutes later, she heard the smoke alarm in her bedroom.
The detective said that Ms Konopka assumed her son had pressed the button to annoy her, but she then started to get “a toxic smell”, so she jumped up from bed and opened the door, seeing a black plume of smoke coming towards her.
She could not see and could not breathe, so she closed the door in a panic and called 999. Panicking to get out, Ms Konopka went to the window as her room was filling up with smoke and roared for help repeatedly.
Det Sgt Looby said that people came to her assistance, including a man with a ladder, who helped her escape the house. She was calling for people to help her son, as she was afraid that he was still inside.
Double locked
Det Sgt Looby said it was then noticed that the front door was double locked, so Ms Konopka told people to smash the window to get in, but the smoke was so thick and black that no one could enter the house. A boy at the scene was able to tell her that he had seen her son going towards the town.
The detective said that an examination was conducted, and it was found that the fire was concentrated on the couch in the living room. In a partially burnt armchair was found a cigarette lighter.
Det Sgt Looby said that the total extent of damage caused was €60,289.47.
When arrested, the defendant made a statement to gardaí saying that on the day he was feeling depressed and anxious. He told gardaí that he was walking around and saw some “opium poppy”, which he ate. He said he was with a friend during the afternoon but then “things got blurry” and he drank wine and started feeling depressed and sick of life. He said that he remembered asking his mother for painkillers as he had a craving for drugs.
Det Sgt Looby said that the defendant told gardaí he took a bottle of antidepressants, around 40 tablets, and drank wine as he felt suicidal.
“I don’t remember much else. I know I ran out of the house. I felt I was being chased. I think I threw a cigarette away in the sitting room. I was completely paranoid and heard voices,” the defendant told gardaí.
Det Sgt Looby said that Ms Konopka made a statement in December 2019, in which she said that her son admitted to her that he had poured white spirit over the couch in the house.
The detective said that Ms Konopka was completely devastated and shocked by this revelation. He told the court that Ms Konopka said that she had lost everything - “20 years, a lifetime of work destroyed in the fire” - and that she had now lost her son.
Det Sgt Looby said that the defendant told gardaí that he locked the door on his way out to try to lock his mother in. He said that the defendant used his mother’s keys to lock the door and then threw her keys away. When asked by gardaí why he had initially lied about throwing away a cigarette, the defendant said he was afraid he would be put in prison.
“I wouldn’t do such a thing if I was sober,” the defendant said.
The detective said that Konopka, who was 19 at the time, had no previous convictions. He said that Ms Konopka had not made a victim impact statement, nor had she attended court. She has since been rehoused.
Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC said that his client, who has been in custody since May 2020, had “deep seated long-standing psychiatric difficulties” and had been compromising his own treatment by taking drugs.
“His mother is heartbroken, she has spoken about her own loss, but she understands she lost her son to mental illness and his inability to help himself,” said Mr Bowman.
