Proposal Would Ensure Mental Health Transparency: SST

The Sensible Sentencing Trust is once again calling for reform of the insanity defence following revelations over the weekend that mass murderer Stephen Anderson is tutoring at a Wellington art school.

Anderson was acquitted of six murders in 1997 by reason of insanity and detained as a special patient in a forensic psychiatric hospital.

Anderson was approved leave in 2009 but recalled for undisclosed reasons in 2011.

Sensible Sentencing Mental Health Issues spokesman, Graeme Moyle, has been advocating reform of the insanity defence since 2008 and believes the defence in its current form to be antiquated and flawed.

Moyle’s brother, Colin, was murdered in 2007, his killer Matthew Ahlquist was also acquitted of murder by reason of insanity.

“The Trusts proposal of ‘proven but insane’, if adopted, will help prevent similar situations like this occurring in the future” Moyle says.

The proposal, which would replace the current verdict of ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ would also carry a criminal conviction which is not currently the case.

“Under the existing system if Anderson was to undergo Police vetting as a pre-employment check, there would be no record of the murders as he was acquitted due to insanity and carries no conviction for those offences” says Moyle.

“Under the ‘proven but insane’ proposal, these offences would be disclosed”.

“If justice is to be seen to be done it must be done with openness and honestly, not behind closed doors and covertly” Moyle said.

“Transparency builds trust, hiding behind antiquated laws and wrapping offenders like Stephen Anderson in cotton wool and hiding their past serves no one; not the offender, not the victims and not the community”.

ENDS

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