The Chief Victims Advisor is like, “Hey, we need to look into forensic mental health facilities with a Royal Commission of Inquiry!” Why? Well, there’s this dude who killed someone 20 years ago, was all “insane” about it, and then went and killed someone else. Like, what the heck? RNZ spilled the tea that this guy was all “not guilty” for the second murder, claiming insanity again because he thought the person was possessed or something.
So, get this, after the first killing, they released him into the community, but it’s not like they just opened the door and said, “Peace out!” No, no, it required the bigwigs in health, law, and mental health to sign off on it. Then, the guy’s status changed to being a patient under the Mental Health Act. Flash forward to the second killing, and he was under some Community Treatment Order. Like, what even is that?
RNZ can’t spill all the deets about the killings because the names are under wraps until the Court of Appeal decides otherwise. Chief Victims Advisor Ruth Money is losing her marbles over this whole situation, calling for a major review of all patients who had their status changed. She’s like, “Something is seriously messed up with how they’re reclassifying these people.”
Ruth Money is straight-up shook about the lack of safety in these facilities, saying, “How can we trust these people who said these patients were safe when they’re out there killing folks?” She wants a Royal Commission to dig into what’s really going on.
But wait, there’s more! Another mental health patient, Elliot Cameron, pleaded guilty to offing Faye Phelps in Christchurch. And a few years back, Zakariye Mohamed Hussein, another mental health patient, stabbed Laisa Waka Tunidau while on a stroll. Like, what is even happening in these places?
Money was so not having it after reading about Phelps’ death. She fired off an email to the mental health director, Dr. Crawshaw, demanding answers and support for the families affected. She’s all, “We need to do better, guys. This can’t keep happening.”
Dr. Crawshaw is all, “Yeah, yeah, I replied to Money. We’re looking into things, don’t worry.” He’s investigating the mental health services in Canterbury and promising to have a report ready by mid-year. That’s chill, I guess.
The Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey, is trying to reassure everyone that they’ve got things under control with all these “checks and balances” in place. He’s like, “We’re on it, guys. Trust us.” But like, can we really trust them after all this mess?
Labour mental health spokeswoman, Ingrid Leary, is playing it cool, saying it’s too early to jump to conclusions about the whole system. She’s keeping an eye on the reviews and hoping for the best. Let’s hope they figure this out soon.
So, yeah, that’s the scoop on the mental health facilities and the chaos that’s been going down. It’s a hot mess, but hopefully, they’ll get their act together before more lives are lost. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.