Another Murderous Savage Gets Away With It.....

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36305405
Stabbed to death? how is that not murder?
what is going on with our judiciary? why do they get conned all the time?
Cue the FOCS to explain why the old man blocked the knife using his chest!

[Mamyalynne]

Obviously the full court transcripts will tell far more than we could ever guess at - his family have been trying to get him sectioned or better help for years.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/sussex-road-rage-killer-cleared-of-murder-but-found-guilty-of-ma/

[hc4361]

Diminshed responsibility due to chronic mental health problems has long been a valid defence to a charge of murder.

He's been found guilty of manslaughter and will be sentenced later. He could spend a very long time in a secure mental institution without a predetermined release date. I'd rather take my chances in a prison

[Mamyalynne]

My heart goes out to Mr Locks family who must be devastated at this outcome.

[sp1814]

TTT

It's probably because of the mental health issues.

[retrocop]

No doubt 'lessons will be learnt' again and again and again. :-(

[ToraToraTora]

"Diminshed responsibility due to chronic mental health problems has long been a valid defence to a charge of murder." - so
a) why is he driving a jam jar?
b) why is he even out in public?

[anotheoldgit]

Should a person with such mental health problems even be driving a car?

[Mamyalynne]

a) I don't know


b) as per my link, he should have been receiving care/treatment but wasn't.

//His family said they had repeatedly tried to get him sectioned without success and feared it was only a matter of time before he did something catastrophic.

The chief executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Trust based in Worthing, later wrote to the Daley family apologising for the treatment he had received.//


Or presumably in this case, hadn't received.

[Jackdaw33]

The defence of diminished responsibility was only introduced in 1957.

[andy-hughes]

TTT - have you read your own link?

The accused was misdiagnosed as autistic, when in fact he was suffering from schizophrenia, which is rather different, as the evidence has now proved.

There is no 'conning' going on - and that is the reason why the verdict is not murder.

So the individual concerned is not a 'murderous savage' - but a mentally ill individual - there is a difference.

[andy-hughes]

TTT - //"Diminshed responsibility due to chronic mental health problems has long been a valid defence to a charge of murder." - so
a) why is he driving a jam jar?
b) why is he even out in public? //

As I know from personal experience, mental health problems do not preclude a life within the community.

Many millions of people with mental health issues live a normal and productive life with their condition controlled with medication.

And yes, they let us drive cars, and use knives and glasses and interact with children and everything!!!

Isn't a civilised society a wonderful place to be!!!!!!

[Mamyalynne]

A very brief guide to DVLA etc here - lots more info on Mental Health and driving obtained by a search online.


http://patient.info/doctor/4-psychiatric-disorders-dvla-guide

[retrocop]

Sadly my B.I.L. has serious mental health issues and sometimes has to be committed. He has his licence suspended occasionally depending on what new medication they try on him but still ends up behind the wheel.
I had most of my holiday last December spent trying to get him to fly home from Madeira because he was so paranoid he thought he might have tripped a speed camera a few weeks previously. He thought that Lincolnshire police would think he was fleeing justice and had gone to Madeira to escape. He is still driving around the UK now. :-(

[Mamyalynne]

It's often hellishly difficult to get the help for those you are close to and you live in fear both for them and others.

[retrocop]

Mamyalynne
Tell my S.I.L. all about it. She has had little support from Lincolnshire Mental Health services. She is a relatively young woman who looks twice her age with the patience of a saint.

[Mamyalynne]

I can well believe it, had lots of similar issues many years ago with my Sister in Law - I was a little on the sidelines but was only too aware how it affected everyone deeply.

[ToraToraTora]

so we have murderous mental cases roaming the streets then? right oh!

[andy-hughes]

retrocop - //Sadly my B.I.L. has serious mental health issues and sometimes has to be committed.//

I am amazed that you have direct experience of the horrors of mental health issues given your flippant and sarcastic references to my own condition last week, when busily making a point about how lacking on masculinity I appear to be because I have required hospitalisation, and I still require daily medication.

This is NOT an invitation for you to embark on an exchange with me and derail the thread - merely something for you to think about perhaps.

[Mamyalynne]

TTT as long as families pleas for help from the services that should be helping are ignored - then yes, we have.

[andy-hughes]

TTT - //so we have murderous mental cases roaming the streets then? right oh! //

Your willingness to simplify a complex and difficult problem for society in order to prop up your point that we have untreated mentally ill people at large does nothing to further your OP.