Man cleared of Jersey murders

[bronze]

here

Rather shocked

Why are you shocked?

Because of how it was reported at the time

As is the rest of jersey..... :(

Slightly misleading thread title though, he was still found guilty of manslaughter for 6

I am surprised to read that "moderate to severe depression" could be regarded as a sufficiently serious mental illness to constitute diminished responsibility for a horrific crime, but the news story is only very brief.

Nothing will bring back those who have lost their lives, and my thoughts and sympathy are with their families.

So he was found to be mentally ill at the time.

Sorry olivio
I was going by the BBC caption and trying to be clear and concise without being alarmist or upsetting
Been on in the news too much

The Hogan case where he jumped off the balcony with the children, killing one but surviving himself, had similar elements.... a 'family wipe-out' gone wrong. The Jersey killer, as I understand it, tried to commit suicide at least once after the event. Hogan was cleared of murder but hospitalised indefinitely. Doubtless the Jersey man will also be receiving psychiatric treatment.

And all the mothers who have done similar, it's not just men.

True. The Theresa Riggi case ended in a conviction for culpable homicide, the Scottish version of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility when she stabbed all her children and then tried to kill herself. The Fiona Donnison case on the other hand, ended in a murder conviction because there was felt to be too great an element of pre-planning involved and Donnison herself failed to show that she was depressed at the time of the crime.

Yes, the guy stabbed himself after the others in this case.

Depression does not cause psychosis. He's got away with murder.

You don't have to be psychotic to plead diminished responsibility.

I'm talking about this specific case - his defence appears to have claimed he had psychosis arising out of depression. Which is bollocks. It's like saying you had diabetes caused by a migraine - complete nonsense.

This case is very near to home for me. We live in Jersey and I do think that the verdict was the right one. Very sad case. No one in their right mind would kill 6 family members, so I have to conclude he wasn't in his right mind. Very sad for all involved.

yes but with this decision, he can be detained indefinitely in Broadmoor, while if he had been found sane and guilty he could be out in 10 or less.
so while it might seem wrong.....it could be for the best.

"Depression does not cause psychosis. He's got away with murder."

Can you show some evidence for that statement?

I'm not sure it makes a big difference but two of the victims were not family members but a friend and her five year old daughter. What a shocking crime.

I read somewhere that he had sustained a head injury in previous years and this might have been a factor.

Depression can cause psychosis it is all part of the same illness

The report said that he had armed himself with knives which would indicate to me an element of premeditation.

I think that his argument is that he had diminished responsibility, not that it was a heat of the moment thing.

Yes,Think so. Horrible for everyone involved

@peedoffbird... kitchen knives. To be fair, most of us sitting at home now could arm ourselves with kitchen knives and it wouldn't require any planning whatsoever.

See your point Cogito. Hadn't thought about that.