Can't Be Tried For Murder!!

[Denton]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/odessa-carey-ashington-trial-mother-17868629

[Bobbisox1]

I saw that too Denton on our local news, quite baffling that she wasn’t in court and they said she couldn’t stand trial for murder

[Denton]

Unbelievable,Bobbi.!!

[Mamyalynne]

A Trial of facts is unusual but not unbelievable.


Dreadful case.

[woofgang]

not baffling at all. Done among other reasons when someone is seriously mentally ill.

[Buenchico]

If someone is so 'insane' (to use non-PC terminology) as to be unable to even know that they're in a court room and/or to have the slightest idea of what the proceedings are all about, they can't be required to enter a plea and therefore can't be tried. The same applies when the person suffers from severe psychosis (or did so at the time of the alleged offence), meaning that they are/were unable to differentiate fact from reality:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/mental-health-suspects-and-defendants-mental-health-conditions-or-disorders

[jackthehat]

Whilst she can't be tried for murder (for the reasons given in the article) it's unlikely that'll be wandering the streets of Ashington any time soon.

[Peter Pedant]

too mad to plead I think
but they still want to know if she did it or not - mad or not

in the Good Old Days - someone was found unfit to plead and they didnt check whether he had done it or not
and it turned out he was mad but innocent ( as in someone else did it)

the idea that you have to be sane to commit capital offences dates from Victorian times. Of the 600 or so murders a year abotu a third are mad.
Sutcliffe tried it and was found sane by a jury (of course) and later was transferred to the psychiatric hospital - a few years later

[Buenchico]

It would be interesting to know though why a Newton hearing has been started when an inquest could have covered much of the same ground.

[pastafreak]

Obviously a very, very sick, and disturbed individual.
Her poor mother.

[jno]

would an inquest point the finger at a perpetrator?

[Buenchico]

While the purpose of an inquest isn't to assign guilt to anyone, the (fairly) recent change to the law which allows a jury to return a narrative verdict (rather than just, say, "murder by person or persons unknown") means that the verdict can include quite a bit of detail.

[BAKERS DOZEN]

I am left wondering why the man at the allotment waited until the next day to report it to the police. I'm sure I wouldn't have slept if I'd seen that.

[pastafreak]

I wondered that too...maybe he was in shock.

[Peter Pedant]

// would an inquest point the finger at a perpetrator?//

finger pointing was stopped around 1975
and I dont think is back