A man who killed a Brisbane bus driver in a horrific firebombing had bizarre delusions of unions infiltrating the public service and fantasised about killing union members, an inquest has been told.
Despite the red flags in Anthony O’Donohue’s mental state, a clinical nurse who looked after him xjmtzywsaid he did not present any risk to people trying to treat him and “appeared to improve” over the years.
The inside account of O’Donohue’s state of mind was revealed on the first day of a coronial inquest into the 2016 death of beloved bus driver Manmeet Sharma.
Mr Sharma died after O’Donohue ignited a Molotov cocktail comprised of diesel and petrol fuel and threw it at the 29-year-old on a bus at Moorooka in October 2016.
While he was charged with murder, a court found O’Donohue was of unsound mind and suffering from “a severe chronic psychotic illness” at the time and therefore not criminally responsible for his actions.
Jeremy Gourlay, a clinical nurse who treated O’Donohue for four years, said he was constantly “disgruntled” about unions.
The court was told he had spoken about suicide, at times saying he felt “hopeless” and had “lost a lot in his life”.
Mr Gourlay gave evidence O’Donohue was otherwise independent, as he did not need much prompting by doctors treating him.
O’Donohue is being held in a mental health facility for at least a decade.
The inquest into Mr Sharma’s death is examining the mental health treatment O’Donohue received from various Queensland services and the decision to discharge him from the Metro South Mental Health Service in 2016.
It will also examine what actions can be taken to protect the safety of bus drivers and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again.
Mr Gourlay said O’Donohue switched to oral medication after an overseas trip in 2014, but there were little checks carried out to see if he was taking his pills.
“There’s no further checks you could do, you could ask them if they’ve taken it or not, but his mental state didn’t appear to change over that period of time,” he said.
During cross-examination, he conceded O’Donohue had fantasised about killing union members and had gone to police in 2011, saying he “wanted to kill people”.
He told the court that O’Donohue appeared to be improving through 2015.
At the time of Mr Sharma’s death, O’Donohue claimed he was “hearing voices” in Arabic and English and held delusional beliefs he was under surveillance from the unions.
Rhiannon Helsen, counsel assisting the coroner, said O’Donohue boarded the bus at 9am and it filled with thick black smoke when the Molotov cocktail was ignited.
Ms Helsen told the court that O’Donohue was discharged from the mental health service in 2016 but attempted to get back in contact with practitioners.
She said O’Donohue was told he was “closed to the service”.
Mr Sharma was a prominent Indian singer and well known member of Brisbane’s Punjabi community and his death prompted an outpouring of grief.
Outside court, family friend Pinky Singh paid tribute to Mr Sharma as a “magnet” and “really positive guy”.
“He was always smiling and happy,” Ms Singh told reporters.
The inquest continues.
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