Osborn v. Germany

When armed police arrived at Oisín Osborn’s home in Hamburg, Germany, he was in his underpants, wearing a saucepan on his head. He was agitated. He had been talking about "protecting" his wife and family from enemies. He’d turned off the electricity so they couldn’t be listened in to. For the same reason, he had put their mobile phones into saucepans.

Oisín was going through a mental health crisis. His wife called the emergency services asking for help. The help that arrived were armed police. They shot Oisín dead.

It was May 22nd 2019.

The police said afterwards that they thought he was armed. The public prosecutor found them innocent and didn’t charge them.

Germany doesn't have an independent police ombudsman so, Oisín’s family have decided to take the case to Europe - to the European Court of Human Rights. It's a case they hope will reveal what happened to their son and, they hope, will change the practices of the German police in dealing with people in a mental health crisis:

The case is entitled, “Osborn v. Germany”.

Among other ways, Oisín's family remember him in murals.

His parents have painted a long mural, in their garden, with symbols from Oisín's life and references to his name. One shows the mythical character, Oisín, with Niamh on horseback heading for Tír na Óg.

His mother, Katrina says, of her Oisín, “He didn’t really get to old age, did he? That’s where he stayed, in The Land of Youth. And maybe one day, he’ll come back, who knows.”

When he was a child, Oisín’s father, David, painted a rainbow on the wall of his bedroom. When Oisín’s own son was about to be born, he painted a rainbow on his bedroom wall.

That rainbow is still there in the house in Hamburg where he was shot dead, because Oisin’s widow, Nikol, still lives there, with their child. It’s a home they she and Oisín set up together during their happiest times and she wants to preserve those feelings for their son.

She says she remembers being pregnant and she and Oisín standing in the newly-decorated nursery. They were looking at the rainbow on the wall, “We were hugging each other and thinking, yeah, everything is going well…yeah.”

Osborne V Germany is Produced by Ronan Kelly, with the Documentary On One team.

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