I hear the Attorney General is to review yesterday’s sentence for the guy who killed three people in Nottingham last year. Their families are demanding “ justice” as the sentence is for him to remain in a secure psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life. They consider this too lenient.
Surely it is more appropriate than prison, given that he has a severe psychiatric illness? Or is it? I am not an expert.
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Sentence for Nottingham killer?
(57 Posts)He was not charged with murder and the sentence did not say
for life
I think they were rightly very angry, there is a history of opportunities missed with regard to this offender.
Why do you refer to "justice" in inverted commas, Cabbie?
The sentence is for an indefinite period and the judge said it may well be for life.
IMO Cabbie, being incarcerated in a secure psychiatric hospital is not only the most appropriate, but only option. He couldn't possibly be accommodated in the prison system.
I agree that the victims families have every right to be angry Galaxy but I think that should be a separate issue, and have nothing to do with the prosecution accepting a guilty plea to manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility which has resulted in the sentence handed down.
I watched the sentencing. The judge said he would probably remain in the hospital for the rest of his life. He remarked that prison was inappropriate because there could not be certainty that he would take his medication - his refusal to accept that there is anything wrong with him having resulted in the medication not being taken. There were sound legal reasons for the charge being manslaughter due to his mental state. It’s unclear what could have been done by the various agencies - he had been sectioned on four occasions. Such people walk among us, what is to be done unless and until they commit a criminal offence?
Is that what they are angry about though? when I have read their concerns it's been about how he was allowed to be on the streets considering some of what had happened previously. I haven't heard their comments on the sentence however that us probably my omission. I think it is obvious he needs never to be released.
I sincerely hope he is never released. I cannot imagine that he will ever be a safe person on Britain’s streets. If he’s thought to be well enough to be released (unlikely) then he should be sent to prison and he should live the rest of his life there.
I’m not surprised that the families are upset, I can only imagine how I would feel if it was my child.
Probably remain. The siblings of the victims will never know if he is released
I believe that medication can forcibly be given in a secure hopital but not in prison. He is a danger to everyone in contact with him
Did you realise that with proper medication, schizophrenia is a treatable disorder? My despair is for the people who lost their lives but also for anyone with a severe psychiatric disorder. It does seem that psychiatric illnesses are very difficult to treat in the Uk. I don’t know what additional safeguards can be put in place to protect the public and also the ill person?
The media has reported that a psychiatrist said that the form of schizophrenia he has is "untreatable"
I notice that he is guilty of three counts of attempted murder and three of manslaughter and am mystified by this. If he had succeeded in killing the three pedestrians presumably that would be manslaughter too. I’m not surprised the bereaved families feel they were railroaded.
I understand how the families feel, but this man was severely mentally ill and manslaughter on the grounds of diminished mental responsibility was the right charge.
The responsibility lies with the mental health authorities who thought he was safe to be left out on his own, the way the mental services are underfunded often forcing these decisions on mental health authorities.
While no one would want to return to the policy before the 1860s of just locking people away in hospitals for life when they were no risk to others. The current attitude of having mental patients all living in the community regardless of their risk to others has gone too far
This is not the first time this has happened and it will not be the last. We need to have the ability to detain people with mental conditions that threaten others, who will not co-operate with treatment - like taking medications, which results in them being a danger to other people.
He carried out an attack on a police officer, was tasered by officers
We do, MOnica. He was sectioned four times and won’t take his medication. Such people need to be kept in a secure mental hospital where their medication can if necessary be given to them forcibly rather than waiting for them to kill someone. Many mental conditions can be successfully treated, but not all, and if someone can be relatively safe within the community is they take their medication, if they refuse to do so what alternative is there?
Protection of the public is the top priority, whatever that course takes!
GSM I have often wondered why the laws surrounding detention and treatment of mentally ill people have not been updated to protect both the public and the patient. Sometimes it can take a very long stay in hospital to get treatment working and the exceptional expertise of psychiatrists. It can be done.
The laws are there. People can be sectioned but not permanently - the initial sectioning can be extended for six months and then annually on doctors’ authority. In theory the sectioning could be renewed annually for the rest of their lives.
I think one reason for the families anger is that an arrest warrant had been issued for Calocane after he failed to attend court in September 2022 over an alleged assault on a police officer....he wasn't arrested.
For them no doubt it's a "what if"?
I certainly agree that the police let the public down in not securing his detention for the previous crime and that the mental health services are deficient in failing to keep the public safe by not detaining patients such as this one.
But those are separate issues.
I put “ justice” in inverted commas, because it seems that those who call for justice have their interpretation which they consider more correct than the sentencing judge. I think the judge is right. Apologies for omitting ‘ probably’ for the rest of his life. I hope he will never be released.
They are grieving the hideous murder of their family members, of course their interpretation will be different from the judge.
I reiterate what others have said, given he was sectioned 4 times, the powers that be who let him out have a lot to answer for. It's heartbreaking to see the smiling faces of the those two young people with their whole future in front of them, and to read the testaments of their family members describing their heartbreak, not forgetting the older man who was also murdered too.
Another sad fact, the man's parents were described as good people, his mother a nurse and his father a carer. Their life is also going to be mired in heartbreak, I'm sorry for them too.
Of course I am extremely sorry for the families, especially having grand children of the same age as the students, and not forgetting the caretaker. It is still to be decided whether the sentence will be sent to the court of appeal for review., they have just said on the news.
Mental Health services in UK are struggling, no inter agency support, no places available to give acutely ill people a place of safety, staff on the front line given little or no support. Nobody wants to take responsibility, I see my daughter struggling to help her clients all the time, she is a senior mental health practitioner. Until services are improved tragic events like this will continue to happen.
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