Psychiatrist says Australian woman who sparked worldwide appeal for her identity cannot be committed as a mental patient

A mystery woman found in Ireland dazed, unable to communicate and later identified as an Australian cannot be committed as a psychiatric patient, a court has been told.
Samantha Azzopardi, 25, has been in the care of health authorities in Dublin since concerns were raised that was she an Eastern European teenager who had been trafficked in to the country.
The High Court in Dublin heard psychiatrist Brendan Kelly found she is not suffering from a disorder classed under the Mental Health Act in Ireland.

Identified: Irish police initially feared the girl was a victim of human trafficking but she is in fact a 25-year-old Australian woman who has apparent health problems

'She has a particular condition,' said Tim O'Leary, a lawyer for the Health Service Executive. 'That condition is specified and makes her vulnerable.'
Mr O'Leary said the woman is happy to stay where she is but supports are in place in adult psychiatric departments, including outside community placements.
The court was told yesterday that Ms Azzopardi may be at risk if she is released from care.
She had been in Ireland visiting a relative before going missing and being found on Dublin's O'Connell Street - the Irish capital's main shopping thoroughfare - in a distressed state on October 10.
Earlier, it emerged Irish police are considering charging Azzopardi with wasting their time and the massive investigation to identify her, which has involved 2,000 man hours and 115 separate lines of inquiry, cost Ireland an estimated £200,000.
Azzopardi was known to 'easily assume' the persona of an adolescent teenager, so was able to fool police into believing she was just 14 or 15 years old, the Irish Independent reported.

Breakthrough: Police have finally identified a mystery girl found wandering the streets of Dublin a month ago after releasing this picture of her

It was also claimed that Azzopardi was convicted in the Brisbane Magistrates Court in 2010 on two charges of making false representations, one charge of possession of a thing with intent to forge documents and one charge of contravening directions.
She was fined $500, to be paid if she reoffended in the following 12 months. Azzopardi was convicted the following month of four separate charges relating to false representations and given the same penalty.
It is understood she was last year convicted interstate for defrauding or deceiving to obtain welfare payments and sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
And in June last year she pleaded guilty in Perth Magistrates Court to three counts of opening an account with a cash dealer in a false name, one count of inducing a person to act and three counts of intent to defraud by deceit.
She was sentenced on October 2 last year to six months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. The revelations come as a complex picture emerges of her.
A former boss described her as 'a lovely girl who had issues', while revelations of forgery convictions tell a more disturbing story.
Chris Nunes, the manager of a restaurant in southwest Sydney said she recognised Samantha Azzopardi's face on the television when Irish police released pictures of the 25-year-old as part of a global search to identify her.
Ms Nunes said she messaged her sister to say 'Oh my God, it's Sammy'.
'She used to work here for us. I saw (the photo of her) last night and then this morning I heard them say her name and I was like 'oh my god it is her',' Ms Nunes said.
Ms Azzopardi, who had relatives living in Sydney, was hired to work in the restaurant two years ago. She worked there for four or five months.
'I knew that she had some issues, that's why we let her go. She was a lovely girl. There was nothing I could say that she was a horrible person or anything, that's why I gave her the opportunity.
'When she left here she said she was going to travel overseas.'

Mystery: The girl, named Samantha, was found on O'Connell Street in Dublin (above) on October 10

Azzopardi's parents have been named as Bruce Azzopardi and Joanne Marie Campbell and she was said to have a brother named Gregory.

When her photograph was released worldwide this week, she was recognised by Joe Brennan who once was in a relationship with her mother and was living in Clonmel, Tipperary.



Mr Brennan contacted police and Azzopardi’s identity was quickly verified with Australian authorities, who stunned Irish police with details of her past.
Azzopardi is currently being cared for by health professionals after she was discovered in a distressed state in the Irish capital a month ago.

Police spent weeks studying mystery girl who spoke little English

Miss Azzopardi was originally believed to have been a European sex slave aged 14 to 16 because she spoke only broken English after being found in Dublin a month ago.
However, it has now emerged she has family connections in Tipperary, where it is believed she was living with relatives for two months before she was found, and is not a victim of human trafficking.
A source close to the investigation told the Irish Independent that she had been 'fretful of any engagement with officialdom' after she was found, adding: 'There is no doubt she has been the victim of some traumatic event of some sort.'
Another source told the paper: 'She is very disturbed. 'It would appear there is something very serious going on here.'
The investigation was hindered by her apparent refusal to speak to police and the HSE - her only form of communication being to write short notes in English.
She also drew pictures of being brought to Ireland on a plane and of her lying on a bed with men, leading police to believe she was forced into prostitution.

Read more:

• Samantha Azzopardi (25) has conviction for deception - Independent.ie
• Samantha Azzopardi convicted of fraud in Brisbane but described as 'lovely girl with issues' by ex-boss