Murder Accused To Be Assessed At Carstairs
15 February 2019, 15:07 | Updated: 15 February 2019, 15:10
A man accused of murdering his wife by striking her with a mallet or a similar object is to be assessed at the state hospital.
The body of Jeanna Maher, 51, was found at a house in Dewar Drive, Drumchapel, Glasgow, on September 26 last year.
Her husband, Peter Maher, 57, is accused of killing her at her home on that day.
It is alleged he bound her wrists and ankles with ligatures, seized her by the neck, repeatedly struck her on the head and body with a mallet or similar implement and murdered her.
He is also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by cleaning blood from various surfaces and changing bedding and his clothes following the alleged incident.
The 57-year-old faces a further charge of assaulting his wife at the property in Dewar Drive on various occasions between January 1 2012 and September 25
2018.
It is alleged he slapped her, pushed and punched her, and threw a mobile phone and a remote control unit at her, all to her injury.
Maher has yet to enter a plea in relation to the charges.
Defence agent Tony Lenehan, representing Maher, told the High Court in Glasgow on Friday his client "won't engage with the assessment process".
Advocate depute Steven Borthwick said Maher has previously been assessed by a Dr Skilling, who prepared a report dated February 14.
He asked the court to grant an assessment order for Maher to spend 28 days being assessed at the state hospital at Carstairs.
