DUBLIN, Ireland: A new report says that four people were released last year from the Central Mental Hospital after being judged unfit to stand trial or not guilty because of insanity.

On average, they had spent about nine years in the hospital before being allowed to leave under certain conditions by the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board. Two of them had stayed for less than seven years. The longest stay before release was nearly 12 years.

The review board, which checks cases of patients sent there by the courts, held a record 215 hearings last year. This was a 3.4 percent increase from the 208 hearings the year before. In total, the board reviewed 99 patients, with some long-term patients having their cases reviewed up to 47 times.

Most of the hearings (about 64 percent) involved patients found not guilty by reason of insanity. Another 17 percent involved prisoners who were moved from jail to the hospital because they needed treatment not available in prison.

Among the 99 patients, 41 had been charged with or convicted of murder, often involving family members. Others faced charges like attempted murder, manslaughter, dangerous driving causing death, serious assault, arson, sexual assault, threats to kill, and armed burglary.

In addition to the four conditional releases, seven patients applied for full (unconditional) release after at least a year on conditional release. Five were approved, two were refused, and one decision is still pending. One person also had their release conditions changed.

Most patients (63 percent) had schizophrenia, 20 percent had schizoaffective disorder, and the rest had other mental illnesses. Of all patients reviewed, 85 were men, and 14 were women.

The board received 439,000 euros in funding last year and spent about 354,000 euros. The biggest expense was providing free legal aid for patients, which cost over 119,000 euros.