Vive La France! Again!

OK, yes, it was suspended. But as we are always told at this time of year, it's the thought that counts...

A French psychiatrist has been convicted of manslaughter six years after one of her patients hacked an elderly man to death. Danielle Canarelli, 58, was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence for her 'grave error' in failing to recognise that her paranoid schizophrenic patient Joël Gaillard posed a public risk.

Refreshing, eh?

The doctor, who has over 30 years of experience and currently works at Marseille's Edouard-Toulouse hospital, was also ordered to pay 8,500 euros to the victim's children, in the groundbreaking case that could affect the way patients are treated.

Better and better...

'If a psychiatrist lives in fear of being sentenced, it will have very real consequences and probably lead to harsher treatment of patients,' said Canarelli's lawyer, Sylvain Pontier.

Yes, but if it saves one life, Sylvain! Isn't that the pious retort of those who'd restrict essential liberties in other circumstances?

God, I Really Don't Want To Read His Origin Story!

A killer discovered with a murder kit in his car has been jailed without limit of time after a judge ruled he posed a lifelong risk to women and children.

Police officers discovered Shane Dobson, who suffers from a hero complex, with the murder kit in Hull's red light area, looking for prostitutes.

Wow! And I thought only last week that I'd obviously not been reading the right comics..!

That's some really odd definition of 'superhero'. Who'd he kill?

Ah.

Now, Dobson, who killed his baby daughter by forcing her to swallow a balloon in 1996 to pretend she was ill, has been given an indefinite life sentence.

Yeah. That's a bit too gritty for Marvel or DC to touch!

“Look, It’s OK When We Do It!” (Part 459)

Mark Brown on Ed Milliband’s declaration of war on the belittling of mental health issues:

Perhaps unwittingly, Miliband has managed to get to the heart of a gnarly problem when he mentioned privilege – the perceived right enjoyed by people without mental health difficulties to speak with authority about those who do.

The ‘perceived right’? It’s no such thing.

I have an absolute right to speak as I please.

People can disagree, even point to my lack of experience on that particular issue to scorn my words, but there’s no doubt I have that right, no matter how people like Brown wishes it weren't so…

But he’s singing from a very, very familiar hymn sheet here:

I'm sure some of the comments on this article will say: "Why are you pesky people with mental health difficulties always looking to get offended? A joke's a joke!" But gags about people with mental health difficulties are different, because of where the power lies; they too often come from people who are reconfirming the status quo, defending attitudes and structures that prevent people with mental health difficulties achieving our potential. In other words, they are jokes and ideas that help "keep us in our place", out of sight and unheard.

On the other hand, jokes by people with mental health difficulties about mental health are often about the gap between outmoded ideas and lived experience, or about reclaiming common experiences from prejudiced interpretation. Sometimes, the comedy itself is directly confrontational: the live comedy nights May Contain Nuts and US comedian Rob Delaney being brilliant ambassadors of the genre.

Ahhh, yes. We've seen this argument before, haven’t we?

This is a good beginning; I now hope that Labour will continue to pay such attention to who is speaking about mental health and where their privilege lies as their policy development continues.

It seems to me that a lot of the ‘privilege’ now lies with the offence-takers.

So…can we start to ignore them?

Ingratitude…

The family of a missing woman have hit out at police…

For not bothering to find her? Well, no. Not exactly.

For bothering.

… after they were door-knocked as part of the inquiry.

I…

I just…

*speechless*

Police have been carrying out inquiries in Sneinton and have put up posters – but Leanne feels let down after a police community support officer (PCSO) knocked on her door to ask if she had heard anything about the missing woman.

"I was disgusted – they should have known this is her address," she said. "If you can't trust the police who can you trust?"

Oh, get over yourselves!

It was an error – the PCSO is actually doing the job they are paid for, for once, rather than standing guard over a plastic egg in some school playground!

That they knocked on your door too just means – as usually happens – a bit of poor communication. It’s not a ghastly plot to rub your noses in it.

Inspector Mark Stanley said: "The inquiry was made in good faith and the PCSOs were unaware that the property was linked to Sandra.

"This does not detract from the upset it has caused her daughter and I have personally apologised to her."

I've no doubt he felt he had to say something, but really…

Sandra's mum Kathleen, Gollin, 86, said: "We just want to see something being done to find Sandra and bring her home."

You just have seen something being done – so stop whinging about it to the local newspaper!

No Wonder Our Mental Health Service Is In A Mess…

A mental health worker who twice went drink-driving when acting as a designated driver for her friends has been banned from the roads for almost two years.

I rather think she’s confused as to what the term ‘designated driver’ actually means…

And yes, you read that right. Twice!

She was on bail at the time having been arrested for drink-driving two months earlier and was awaiting the result of a blood alcohol test.

Penalty? Well, nothing at all, really:

In addition to a 22-month driving ban, she was given a 12-month community order with 40 hours’ unpaid work. She was also told to pay £170 prosecution costs.

You will have to hope the authority for which she works takes a good, hard look at her powers of judgement.

Her solicitor, Mark Thompson, said Fairclough was on her way home from the funeral of a friend who had died unexpectedly when she was stopped in Haxby Road. The death had caused Fairclough anxiety and she was on anti-depressants.

The court was told she had not thought about the effects of the amount of alcohol she had drunk at the funeral.

Or, presumably, about whether they should be mixed with alcohol!

Fairclough told a probation officer the bar she had been at that day had been offering two drinks for the price of one, so she had taken up the offer.

/facepalm She clearly learned a few techniques for court from her work:

Mr Thompson said Fairclough was remorseful for her actions.

Well, of course she was!