Some victims of homicides by people with serious mental illness do not meet the inclusion criteria for mental health homicide statistics

 

Following today’s article in the Mail on Sunday it’s probably worth reiterating what is and isn’t included in the National Confidential Inquiry (NCISH) headline statistics for mental health homicides.

NCISH’s own website lists the criteria for inclusion in their statistics – which shows they only include perpetrators with a mental illness who have killed and been convicted, and who have been in touch with specialist mental health services within 12 months of the incident.

This inclusion criteria does not include:

• the number of the perpetrator’s victims,
• cases where there is no conviction (perhaps because the perpetrator took their own life after killing others; or died before they could be prosecuted; or, as is the case in an increasing number of patients with dementia who kill, where there is no prosecution at all),
• cases where the perpetrator is not in touch with ‘specialist mental health services’.

These criteria were confirmed to me in person by Professor Appleby from NCISH during a recorded interview in 2009, when he was National Director for Mental Health in England, and when NCISH was reporting 50 mental health homicides a year in England.

 

We say that only counting convictions does not reflect the true scale of the problem. (You wouldn’t count the total number of burglaries by just the number of burglars who were convicted).

And only including those in touch with specialist mental health services ignores those mentally ill offenders who are only in-touch with their GP or no service at all.

Here are some victims of people who were according to the evidence at coroner’s inquests and from their families and friends were mentally ill when they killed, and who by NCISH’s own definition, do not meet the criteria for inclusion in their counting of mental health homicides:

2 June 2010
12 VICTIMS OF CUMBRIAN SHOOTER DERRICK BIRD

David BIRD, Kevin COMMONS, Darren REWCASTLE, Susan HUGHES, Kenneth FISHBURN
Isaac DIXON, Jennifer JACKSON, James JACKSON, Garry PURDHAM, James CLARK
Michael PIKE, Jane ROBINSON
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

20 Nov 2010

HARLEY RUCK (11 months)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

21 Jan 2011

FERAT KESMEZ
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

23 Feb 2011

ELEANOR (9) & THOMAS OAKES-GREEN (11)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

4 March 2011
ANNA CUPORIOVA
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

24 April 2011

LUCINDA PORT
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

11 Dec 2011

CLAIR, BEN (9), & AARON SMITH (1)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

2 Jan 2012

MARK CHANDLER
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

10 Jul 2012

PC IAN DIBELL
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

28 Aug 2012

MAUREEN TYLER
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

11 Jan 13

MYRNA KIRBY
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

22 Jan 2013

CHLOE SIOKOS, 80
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

2 Mar 2013

VICTORIA ROSE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

22 Mar 2013

ZAKI OETTINGER (3)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

15 April 2013

LEVINA (3), ADDY (2) & KYDEN ANDERSON (11mths)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

1 May 2013

MAY STOKOE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

15 May 2013

MARGARET MERCATI
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

10-15 July 2013

JANE McRAE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

29 July 2013

KEISHA McKENZIE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

2 Oct 2013

DERISA TRENCHARD
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

24 May 2014
WENDY AMBROSE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

11 Aug 2014

TOMMY SHELDON (5)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

4 Sept 2014

PALMIRA SILVA
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

11 Sept 2014

PAUL AVERILL
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

31 Oct 2014

MAGDALENA WELNA
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

13 Nov 2014

DEBORAH RUSE
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

2 DEC 2014

ZAANI TIANA BEVAN MALBROUCK (baby)
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)

29 Dec 2015

JEROEN ENSINK
(Doesn’t meet criteria because the perpetrator was not in touch with specialist MH services)

6 Sept 2016

KAREN ARNOLD
(Doesn’t meet criteria because there was no conviction)