Peter Murrell 7pm today BBC2

Bless you. And thank you ronib. I wish you well.

I am glad to hear that your niece in Sweden is having good treatment and accommodation suitable to her needs. Plevey08. We have some way to go here.

He did say he felt deep embarrassment and shame. And the judge did say he couldn't get to the bottom of why he'd done it. He (Murrell) clearly could afford to buy these things himself so there clearly seems to be a mental health reason.
My niece who lives in Sweden has bi-polar, ronib, and it is truly one of the hardest mental health diagnosis to live with. It is brutal. Completely traumatic for her and her family. She would go on manic shopping sprees and run up terrible debt. She has had residential support and is now, with medication and support living a much better life.

I don't feel particularly sorry for Murrell but like many people am utterley baffled by why he did what he did because he could quite easily have afforded this stuff with his own money and or with access to perhaps a joint household account with his then wife ( not to implicate her I don't believe she knew). His publicly declared income was £80K + for the years of embezzlement. Ms Sturgeon given her position would be on ,what, £100K plus ?
I'm usually hostile to people making excuses for what is just bad behaviour instead of owning it but what people have said about psychological problems and pointless spending here resonates with the behaviour , many years ago , with a friend of mine. Under terrific stress and always in debt and possibly with post-operative depression she was a shopaholic and kept the stuff( purchased on credit cards) in a cupboard under the stairs unopened and still in bags where it stayed , unused.
Makes you think.
It would at least explain the otherwise inexplicable.

Very sensible - I think everything’s been said on this thread that can usefully be said. I hope PM receives any care he may need in prison and that he has friend/s who visit and support him

Thank you Tuliptree I really appreciate your post. I don't want to be a keyboard warrior banging on so I'll just wish everyone well and get on with trying to stay cool in this bloomin' heat.

I did rather think you have experienced it as your posts were clearly so well informed. Thank you for sharing that

That's the whole point Nanna8 I have experienced it and I do know.

If Peter Burrell is affected by mental illness, whether bipolar or not, I hope, like many have said upthread, he gets help and understanding alongside paying his debt to society with his prison sentence.

There will be different experiences on here of bi-polar. Some posters may have experienced it through close family members, others through their profession and others may have the condition themselves. The majority have probably just read or heard about it. I completely accept that being in the latter category I really wouldn’t know.

Luckygirl3

*If I were to get very judgemental about any fraudsters, it would be those truly evil people who put the lives of many workers( and others) in jeopardy by selling inadequate PPE to the government at outrageous prices. Most if not all of them have completely got away with it.* ....... can't disagree with that!

Yes, there really. should be an inquiry into Michelle Mone and the public's disappearing monies. I'm surprised there hasn't been 't been, or did I miss that?

Nannee49

You can be as cynical as you like nanna8 if you've never experienced it you wouldn't know.

Neither would you.

I think the speculation on this thread is understandable for the reasons I’ve already posted. I still think there are MH issues whatever they are. I doubt spending time in prison will help- it’s more likely to aggravate any pre-existing issues. He’s receiving plenty of punishment but, just like many prisoners, he’ll probably be short on receiving measures aimed at rehabilitation, whatever they might be. I understand that with our current CJ philosophy he had to be sent to prison but for the life of me I can’t believe in the long run it helps either society or him.

No-one is diagnosing anything Aveline from armchairs or elsewhere - who would be so arrogant - but it's a point of view that could possibly bring a bit of understanding to POVs which just dismiss it as bad behaviour.

Hopefully the prison has competent psychiatric staff?

Aveline

I still disagree with armchair diagnosing based on experiences of posters. However, I feel sorry for him. Goodness knows how he'll cope when he's released.

I apologise if you thought I was diagnosing that wasn’t the intention of my post.

He will have time to reflect on and come to terms with his deeds and their consequences whilst serving his sentence.

I still disagree with armchair diagnosing based on experiences of posters. However, I feel sorry for him. Goodness knows how he'll cope when he's released.

GrannyGravy13

If and it’s a rather big if he has Bi-polar than I am amazed that his wife, parents and those close to him were unaware.

It is an illness which is very visible and difficult to mask

They might well have been aware GrannyGravy13 but not everyone can come to terms with the devastating effects of bipolar illness and find it impossible to acknowledge or discuss.

It's completely out of anyone's power to put a stop to an episode, manic or depressive, bar a chemical cosh which doesn't happen nowadays except in the most severe cases where sectioning is involved. An episode can be masked with people assuming the person is just being arsy or out of character excessive, not associating it with bipolar at all. And when the episode finally abates the desire to get back to "normal" is overwhelming and nothing gets mentioned for fear of triggering another bout, walking on vertible eggshells lest something kicks off again. It's horrible.

I don't know if this is the case with Mr. Murrell but if so I have a lot of empathy for him and his family.

No. We will never know. I'm always wary of people rushing diagnose specific illnesses particularly mental illness. Sometimes people are just people with all their positives and negatives and differing life experience and genetic potential.

GrannyGravy13

If and it’s a rather big if he has Bi-polar than I am amazed that his wife, parents and those close to him were unaware.

It is an illness which is very visible and difficult to mask

Yes I agree. I suppose people are trying to understand the inexplicable. As I said earlier stashing the money away in an off shore account would have made sense. The CEO I mentioned earlier did it because he felt a change in the travel expenses rules left him out of pocket so he compensated with fraudulent claims. The motivation can be understood without being condoned ( far from it). But this case puzzles some of us. I guess we’ll never know and in two and a half years there’ll probably be a brief story when he’s released on parole.

If and it’s a rather big if he has Bi-polar than I am amazed that his wife, parents and those close to him were unaware.

It is an illness which is very visible and difficult to mask

My understanding of a shopaholic is someone with a compulsive shopping disorder. So I would agree that it’s mental health issues.

And what is a "shopaholic" Aveline?
Is that not someone with difficult mental health issues or just a wayward, careless personality?

Aveline

I don't think he's bipolar at all. Just a shopaholic trying to compensate for something missing in his life. His brief would have mentioned mental illness in mitigation if any had been diagnosed.

No he wouldn’t necessarily as has already been said. But we’ll probably never know and why should we?

I don't think he's bipolar at all. Just a shopaholic trying to compensate for something missing in his life. His brief would have mentioned mental illness in mitigation if any had been diagnosed.

I do hope he has a friend somewhere who has stayed in contact and will visit him in prison. I wonder what sort of friend I’d be in a situation where a good friend went to prison? It would depend on the crime I imagine but I’d like to think in this situation I’d be there for him. and as some others have said, if he has got some psychological/ mental health issues, I hope he can get some help.