Hi and welcome to this Jason King Insight:
The recent case of the Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane has sparked much controversy on the issue of mental health and sentencing. Calocane was convicted of killing caretaker Ian Coates and students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar in a random attack while experiencing acute psychotic symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. His sentencing to a restricted hospital order has sparked controversy and was heavily criticied by victim's families. This prompted national debate on hospital orders - an alternative to custodial sentences in the legal system, which may be used on mental health grounds. And the use of a similar order for Mohammed Akkbr, who set two elderly mosque-goers alight while suffering from psychotic delusions, has brought this issue back to the fore.
We ask, do allowances for mental health allow some of those who commit terrible crimes to go unpunished? And if so, how does the case of Joshua Jacques fit into the equation - a man who received a life sentence with a minimum term of 46 years for a triple murder, when there was no doubt as to the severity of his mental health conditions and the fact that he was not in a clear state of mind at the time of the kilings??? We examine the rationale behind their use, and ask, is the current system fit for purpose?
A section 37 hospital order or section 37/41 restricted hospital order, which both entail an offender being placed in a secure mental facility for monitoring and treatment, may be chosen as an alternative to other sentencing options based on a number of considerations.
Not least, there are practical considerations. We have to do what's right all round regarding the placement of severely mentally unwell individual who, without correct treatment, could be a dange to themselves and those around them, whether prison staff or other inmates. Keeping them on the straight and narrow, and spotting any early warning signs, isn't just about what's good for the patient: it affects others.
That's where a specialist secure mental health hospital provides a better environment for monitoring such patients safely and ensuring compliance with a necessary treatment regime. It's one reason for sending an individuals to a secure mental health hospital - which may be considered to be equivalent to a class B prison, rather than to a maximum security prison which others who committed the same offences may end up.
However, beyond this is the larger issue of accountability, punishment and rights. The law adopts a balanced approach, but takes into account the reality of mental health conditions, as described by medical guidelines. Certain conditions mean, by their nature, an ill person is not fully aware of their actions or able to make free informed choices. Referring to an expert psychiatric assessment of the individual, the court must determine what extend an individual can be punished for a crime they commited while not mentally lucid.
Without a doubt, punishement is a function of the criminal justice system. If a murderer is convicted to a life sentence of 20 years, they have forfeitted 20 years of their freedom. If, a few years into their sentence, they were considered to have reformed and to no longer present a risk to society, they would nevertheless be required to serve the rest of their minimum term - as a punishment for their crime.
This is not fully the same with hospital orders, where the focus is on treatment and rehabilitation. Someone could, potentially, find themselves back in the community after a few years - although in reality the system has balances and it is far from being black and white.
In the first instance, in the case of a restricted hospital order, a judge get to have their say. It isn't just doctors who decide when a person gets out. An inmate won't automatically get out on the grounds that they have become mentally stable. It is a balancing act, where it isn't all about what is good for the hospital inmate. It is also about what seems right from a justice perspective. A judge does not have to let someone out who they beleive isn't showing enough remorse for what they did.
And if a criminal is released back into society, they are unlikely to be free to do whatever they want. They are likely to be required to take their medication, - whether they want to or not. And there may be other restrictions. And this is where we see the other side of the system, the side which allows for a Joshua Jacques, a man with severe mental health conditions who received a 43-year prison sentence for crimes he committed when suffering from acute mental illness - proving that there are limits to what mental health can excuse.
A review pointed to a string of failings in the case of Joshua Jaques. He was supposed to be closely monitered by experienced professionals from various services, able to deal with the complexities of his case, but instead he slipped through the system and went on a path of deteriorating mental health. Crucially, he was absolutely forbidden from smoking marijuana, having been warned that strong marijuana could bring him into a mental state where he could pose a harm to others. However, he chose to disregard this warning. As his mental health deteriorated the response from services was not adequate, and tragically, in a psychotic episode, he went on to commit murder. So why, following this, did he not have a mental health defence, and why was he instead sent to jail to serve a life sentence?
The answer is, he was given one chance, and he used it up. The court ruled that it was his responsibility to adhere to the rules imposed upon him, - which he decided to break, by smoking marijuana. From then on, he could not claim that what had happened had been due to no fault of his own.
And this highlights how, far from being free, those on hospital orders, who may be released back into the community than those who committed similar offences but who did not have a mental health situation taken into consideration during their sentencing, are on a tight leash. Their freedom only exists as long as they follow all the rules imposed on them, and are co-operative with the professionals who may order them to take the medication which keeps them lucid and functional. And again, in all serious cases, a judge must be satisfied that their is genuine remorse and a suitability to integrate back into society, as, crucially, the orders handed down to Calocane and Abbkr were indefinite, meaning that it is perfectly possible for them to be in a secure hospital for several decades.
Hospital orders emerge from this examination as a considered option, taking into account the medical realities of various mental health conditions and how they impact upon accountabliity. They also give our legal system a way of mitigating risks and complications which can arise from mentally ill patients in a general prison setting. The system does in effect provide a 'second chance' to individuals who may have committed horrific acts, when the medical evidence provides grounds to hold them not fully responsible. There is no denying that three years in a secure mental health hospital would be considered by most people to be less of a punishment than a decade in a class A prison. However, valanced against this, people on hospital orders are required to adhere to strict conditions, maybe for the rest of their lives, and the life sentence handed out to Joshua Jacques, who failed to comply with his conditions, shows that an individual who willingly puts others at risk doesn't get a free ride due to their mental health problems.
Well, that’s all for now. But until our next article, please stay tuned, stay informed, but most of all stay safe, and I’ll see you then.
Jason King
Birmingham City-Desk
Twitter (X) @JasonKingNews
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