The McNaughton rules refer to the legal test for a defence of insanity. The McNaughton rules act as a legal safeguard preventing severely mentally unwell people from being unjustly punished by the criminal justice system. The McNaughton rules result from the case of Daniel McNaughton, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after […]
The Pritchard criteria are a means of assessing fitness to plead, and consider communication and cognition to ensure defendants with mental disorders are not subjected unfairly to criminal trials. The Pritchard criteria were developed from a nineteenth century case (R v Pritchard (1836)) whereby the defendant, accused of bestiality, was deaf and mute. The criteria […]
As forensic psychiatrists we are used to assessing people charged with a range of offences. The Offences Against the Person Act dates back to 1861 and is very much common currency in Crown Courts throughout the country in the early 21st Century. 1861 saw the introduction of the Malicious Damage Act, which covers obstruction of […]
If it can be demonstrated that a defendant committed a crime as the result of an involuntary act they may be able to plead the defence of automatism. Automatism is defined as “the performance of actions without conscious thought or intentions”. An automatism may occur secondary to physical or mental disorder; however, voluntary intoxication is […]
Diminished responsibility is a partial defence to murder which if proven can reduce the conviction to manslaughter. This allows the court a greater breadth of sentencing options. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century the mandatory sentence for murder was capital punishment. This was a major factor in the conception of diminished responsibility legislation. […]
It’s an early start as I am due to give evidence in Sheffield Crown Court. I’ve been asked to be there by 9am. I leave my house at 6am as I don’t want to risk being late. The traffic is terrible, but luckily I arrive on time. I sit outside Court 3 and wait for […]
Fitness to plead has traditionally been assessed in England and Wales according to the Pritchard Criteria. More recently the case of Jones has been cited. The Pritchard criteria are generally accepted and are the criteria that most solicitors, barristers and judges are familiar with. According to the Pritchard Criteria, a defendant will be unfit to […]