7 years - 3 years suspended so only 4 years in prison in total for battering his wife to death

[Heylo]

This is not a joke. This guy beat his wife to death - mother of his 4 kids. He served a total of 4 years in prison. Four years.

the U.K. is a joke

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce93v6kwr6go

Isn't that the man who made almost 600 phone calls for help because of voices in his head?
I agree that all is not well in the uk but in this case it is not the justice system at fault - he did not get medical intervention when he needed it...

Are you joking?
pls can we not excuse male violence because some guy had a bout of the blues.

Regardless of this man's mental health issues, I think that "previous good character" should not be a mitigating factor in sentencing for these types of crimes. It might be applicable for e.g. shoplifting, but not rape or murder.

You can go through life raping many women but never getting reported, charged or convicted. Not having a rape conviction proves nothing.

And when a man kills his partner, she's no longer around to tell us what violence he may have previously inflicted - murder is normally the consequence of escalation of abuse (which may not have been reported to police), not a one-off.

I am inclined to agree with the PP that this was a massive failure of mental health services, likely due to lack of resources and understaffing. It's one more way in which Tory austerity disproportionately fucked over women.

Hearing voices is not " a bout of the blues" . It indicates a serious break from reality and he was looking for help. It's absolutely tragic what happened and in all likelihood could have been avoided if MH services were better.

I doubt very much that this man had a "bout of the blues".
This is not a straightforward case of vawg as you'd have to first prove he recognised his wife as even being human and alive.

Bout of the blues we have all felt that this is nothing like a bout of the blues

what he was experiencing is something completely different, it is utterly terrifying to be hearing voices instructing you, voices that you at the point of time feel are real, they are as real as someone talking directly to you in a conversation often much louder sometimes whispers but the experience felt is real

this is a terribly tragic case highlights the inadequate mh services and gp services especially during covid lockdown’s

At times previous behaviour I do feel should be taken into account and this is one of those times. His punishment is he has caused such grief to his own children when he was extremely unwell I am not sure he can come to terms with this, I am not sure who benefits from him being in prison

it’s a terribly tragic case

Why is he in prison not a mental institution

This is bizarre.

Either he is so mentally unwell he didn't know what he was doing and was unfit to have stood trial because he lacked capacity.

Or he had capacity and he brutally murdered his wife.

The judgement is a halfway house between the two, which strikes me either as injustice to the victim or injustice to the man who lacked capacity.

Which is it? It can't be both.

Probably because once he was on medication and a period of being stable it was no longer deemed necessary for him to be in a secure hospital

Some people react very positively to medication, no longer hear voices etc they might be depressed but not at risk of harming themselves or others so moved from secure hospitals to prison

Psychosis is not a bout of the blues.

pls can we not excuse male violence because some guy had a bout of the blues.

And please can we not dismiss what sounds like pretty severe mental illness as a bout of the blues. You can argue that it should make no difference to the sentencing without referring to it like that.

I think it's worth noting that the couple's children (a brother and sister) said they welcomed and accepted the verdict of manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

My father was a very gentle man, who suffered from bipolar depression.

On more than one occasion, when seriously ill, he tried to kill my mother and us children. In his case, this was because he felt that our outlook as a family was so awful, and that of the world in general, that it would be better if we all died (him included, once he had 'done his duty').

He was very ill. Not a 'case of the blues', but seriously unwell and delusional. Strange as this may seem, I know that this impulse came from a place of care towards us all. Fortunately my mother knew the signs and was able to intercept his plans and get him the care he needed.

I hate to think what would have happened nowadays- there seems to be a dangerous lack of funding for crisis care.

I agree with a pp: they should either have committed him to hospital (ideally before anyone died), or sent him to jail if he wasn't deemed to be mentally ill.

the U.K. is a joke

What country do you think would have treated him differently? And what do you think should have happened to him?

Mental health issues like depression, being under pressure, anger issues etc are sometimes trotted out as an excuse for people doing terrible things. They aren't - even if you are depressed you are still capable of making rational decisions and responsible for your choices. To be not responsible you have to be seriously unwell - to the extent that your inability to deal with the world in a rational way is affecting you seriously beforehand. Basically you need to be psychotic. Which, unfortunately, it sounds like this guy was.
Mental illness is used as an excuse by abusive men all the time. In this case however, it sounds like he was genuinely not culpable for his actions and tried to get help. So, it is different to most cases (the same as for example, mothers in the grip off post-partum psychosis being different to abusive parents).

True however he was given medication before and they didn't think he was taking it which was why he killed her what is in place now to stop it happening again?

Nothing? How is that in the public interest

what is in place now to stop it happening again?

Nothing? How is that in the public interest

Did you read the article? It is quite clearly stated at the bottom.

We do not know what medication he was taking before and how it was administered (tablet form possibly) or if it improved his mh

some people will stop taking medication as the side effects are often horrible some will lack insight as to why they need to take medication just because they may stop hearing voices having intrusive thoughts doesn’t mean they suddenly gain insight

he may be on a depo now and is he declines he licence conditions state that he has to comply with his medication

Who exactly will be watching him to make sure he doesn't drink his family? The NHS? They did a great job the last time regular testing maybe? Unlikely

He got away with killing someone was forgiven by the family and doesn't really have any consequences

BelTel coverage (that it seems the BBC read…):

Baird called GP 570 times in week before wife’s killing.
Details re: initiation divorce proceedings in 2017.
Baird guilty plea.
Family respond to verdict.

Didn’t occur to me to post about it here because the perpetrator was not “a bit bluesy”; he was sufficiently unwell that his crime was not murder.

That is a whole other kind of tragic; but FWR isn’t really the place to discuss the lack of mental health care nor the presentation of various MH conditions [in x demographic]. The majority of people with mental health problems - including psychosis & particularly the quasi-demonised schizophrenia - are not violent; & if they are, they are more likely to hurt themselves than others. Identifying & supporting those who might be the exceptions to that rule requires a well-funded health & accessible service; not one where you can make 570 calls to your GP & get no answer.

He got away with killing someone was forgiven by the family and doesn't really have any consequences

What do you think the right outcome would be?

Committed to a hospital indefinitely.

Committed to a hospital indefinitely.

How disrespectful to people with serious mental health issues to say he was just a bit blue.

I don't condone his act, but psychosis is a serious condition where peoples perspective on the world is severely skewed.

You need to be angry at the woeful mental health services and GP services in this country. Had he gotten the intensive treatment he needed, his wife would probably still be alive.

Why would he be hospitalised if he is no longer in need of treatment? He should be in prison. If his psychosis is now controlled he doesn't warrant a hospital order.

To say he had a bout of the blues is frankly ridiculous and minimises very real mental illness that many people are afraid to seek help for because of views like yours.

Wow almost 600 calls for help during the week before is absolutely next level. Everyone has been failed here, the wife, the children and a mentally ill person who could recognise that they needed serious intervention and unfortunately it didn’t come.