{"title":"The shape of justice: Sentencing of mentally ill defendants convicted of manslaughter.","authors":"Tim Exworthy","doi":"10.1177/00258024251380965","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In June 2023, a mentally ill man stabbed to death three people in the street and seriously injured three others. A plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility (DR) was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and he subsequently received a restricted hospital order (sections 37 & 41) under the Mental Health Act 1983. There has been considerable public discussion around this case. This paper sets out the background to the partial defence to murder of DR as well as the current approach to the sentencing of mentally ill defendants convicted of manslaughter. The Court of Criminal Appeal later considered a referral that the sentence had been 'unduly lenient'. The court considered the legal factors of the degree of retained responsibility and the extent to which a penal element should be reflected in the sentence. From the psychiatric perspective, the release regimes of the two options of a restricted hospital order or a hybrid order were also examined by the Court, as these related directly to protection of the public.</p>","PeriodicalId":18484,"journal":{"name":"Medicine, Science and the Law","volume":" ","pages":"258024251380965"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medicine, Science and the Law","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024251380965","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In June 2023, a mentally ill man stabbed to death three people in the street and seriously injured three others. A plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility (DR) was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and he subsequently received a restricted hospital order (sections 37 & 41) under the Mental Health Act 1983. There has been considerable public discussion around this case. This paper sets out the background to the partial defence to murder of DR as well as the current approach to the sentencing of mentally ill defendants convicted of manslaughter. The Court of Criminal Appeal later considered a referral that the sentence had been 'unduly lenient'. The court considered the legal factors of the degree of retained responsibility and the extent to which a penal element should be reflected in the sentence. From the psychiatric perspective, the release regimes of the two options of a restricted hospital order or a hybrid order were also examined by the Court, as these related directly to protection of the public.
期刊介绍：
Medicine, Science and the Law is the official journal of the British Academy for Forensic Sciences (BAFS). It is a peer reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the knowledge of forensic science and medicine. The journal aims to inform its readers from a broad perspective and demonstrate the interrelated nature and scope of the forensic disciplines. Through a variety of authoritative research articles submitted from across the globe, it covers a range of topical medico-legal issues. The journal keeps its readers informed of developments and trends through reporting, discussing and debating current issues of importance in forensic practice.
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