Workers may find discrimination claims for depression easier after EAT ruling – OUT-LAW.com

“Workers who claim disability discrimination on account of depression should have their cases assessed by the effect of their condition rather than on the basis of strict medical diagnosis, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 21st June 2010

Source: www.out-law.com

‘Bullied’ lawyer launches £800,000 lawsuit against employers – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 23rd, 2010 in compensation, employment, harassment, mental health, news by sally

“A former top City lawyer who says she was driven to a mental breakdown by a ‘psycho’ colleague has launched an £800,000 lawsuit over claims that her employers failed to support her.”

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Daily Telegraph, 23rd June 2010

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Man sectioned over Stapleford grandfather’s killing – BBC News

Posted June 21st, 2010 in diminished responsibility, mental health, news, sentencing by sally

“A judge has said mental health doctors in Nottinghamshire should ‘examine their consciences’ after a paranoid schizophrenic stabbed his grandfather.”

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BBC News, 18th June 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Lawyer wins tribunal appeal over withdrawal of job offer – Law Society’s Gazette

“A woman lawyer has won her appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that disability discrimination did not lie behind a major law firm’s decision to withdraw a job offer.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 17th June 2010

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

GPs agree to waive privacy of mentally ill gun owners – The Guardian

Posted June 15th, 2010 in confidentiality, doctors, firearms, medical ethics, mental health, news by sally

“Doctors have agreed to breach their duty of medical confidentiality to patients who own guns if they fear they have become so seriously mentally ill they may use their weapons on themselves or the public, the Guardian has learned.”

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The Guardian, 14th June 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judges keen to make wills in favour of ‘Johnny-come-lately’ relatives – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 10th, 2010 in Court of Protection, mental health, news, wills by sally

“Judges are too quick to make wills for mentally ill or elderly people in favour of ‘Johnny-come-lately’ relatives, according to a legal expert.”

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Daily Telegraph, 10th June 2010

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina (MJ (Angola)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 24th, 2010 in appeals, deportation, law reports, mental health, young offenders by sally

Regina (MJ (Angola)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 557; [2010] WLR (D) 132

“The Secretary of State’s apparently untrammelled discretion contained in s 42(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 to discharge a patient detained in hospital under ss 37 and 41 of the Act in order to facilitate his or her deportation on the grounds that he had committed criminal offences was to be exercised rationally and in such a way as would not breach the patient’s Convention rights. In considering whether deportation would interfere with a patient’s Convention right to respect for his private and family life, very serious reasons were required to justify expulsion where the patient had lawfully spent a major part of his childhood or youth in the host country and had committed the relevant offences as a juvenile.”

WLR Daily, 21st May 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Gary McKinnon: Theresa May urged to block extradition order – The Guardian

Posted May 17th, 2010 in computer crime, extradition, mental health, news by sally

“Campaigners for the computer hacker Gary McKinnon have called for support from the new coalition government in their latest bid to overturn a decision to allow him to be extradited to the US.”

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The Guardian, 15th May 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Man cleared of Bristol stabbings by reason of insanity – BBC News

Posted May 12th, 2010 in insanity, mental health, news, offensive weapons, wounding by sally

“A man has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of stabbing 10 people on a rampage in Bristol.”

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BBC News, 11th May 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Wiltshire coroner orders review into suicide – BBC News

Posted May 12th, 2010 in coroners, mental health, news, suicide by sally

“A coroner has ordered police and health services to review the way they treated a patient who hanged himself after being falsely accused of a sex assault.”

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BBC News, 12th May 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Woman who smothered grandmother loses murder appeal – BBC News

“A West Yorkshire woman who was secretly taped confessing to smothering her grandmother has lost an appeal against her murder conviction.”

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BBC News, 11th May 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Link Lending Ltd v Hussain and another – WLR Daily

Posted April 27th, 2010 in appeals, land registration, law reports, loans, mental health, repossession by sally

Link Lending Ltd v Hussain and another [2010] EWCA Civ 424; [2010] WLR (D) 103

“A person, who had been taken into psychiatric care under s3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and had been involuntarily placed elsewhere, was still in actual occupation of her own home under the land registration legislation. Where therefore the owner, lacking legal capacity, had transferred the property to a swindler for no consideration and the swindler had secured a loan on the property from a lender which he had failed to repay, the lender as the registered chargee was not entitled to dispossess her on the ground that she was not in actual occupation of her home.”

WLR Daily, 26th April 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported on one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Man ‘angry at phone call’ killed stranger in Greenwich – BBC News

Posted April 21st, 2010 in diminished responsibility, mental health, murder, news by sally

“A man who stabbed a stranger to ‘release his rage’ at not being able to get through to his girlfriend’s phone has been found guilty of murder.”

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BBC News, 20th April 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

MoD is failing its war veterans, leaving many to face jail terms, peer says – The Guardian

“Britain should appoint a cabinet minister responsible for the welfare of ex-service personnel amid concern over the rising number who end up in custody after returning home from a war zone, a former prisons inspector says.”

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The Guardian, 14th April 2010

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Man convicted of harassing model Sophie Anderton – BBC News

Posted March 25th, 2010 in harassment, mental health, news by sally

“A stockbroker has been found guilty of stalking model Sophie Anderton by bombarding her with text messages.”

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BBC News, 25th March 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Connor v Surrey County Council – WLR Daily

Posted March 24th, 2010 in duty of care, law reports, mental health, negligence by sally

Connor v Surrey County Council [2010] EWCA Civ 286; [2010] WLR (D) 83

“A duty of care owed by a public body to one of its employees as a function of that employment relationship and which existed independently of the impact of action or inaction under statute could be violated, so as to give rise to a claim for damages, by failure to exercise a statutory discretion, but only where the discretion was, or would have been able to be, exercised consistently with the duty-ower’s full performance of its public law functions.”

WLR Daily, 22nd March 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Schizophrenic man jailed for fatal stabbing in London – BBC News

“A schizophrenic man who pleaded guilty to killing a father in north London months after being fined for another attack has been jailed for life.”

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BBC News, 16th March 2010

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Key and another v Key and others – WLR Daily

Posted March 11th, 2010 in bereavement, law reports, mental health, probate, wills by sally

Key and another v Key and others [2010] EWHC 408 (Ch); [2010] WLR (D) 69

 “Although affective disorder such as depression, including that caused by bereavement, was more likely to affect powers of decision-making than comprehension, the effect of bereavement on a testator’s mind was a factor to be taken into account when deciding whether he had capacity to make a will and was capable of impairing testamentary capacity.”

WLR Daily, 9th March 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

The Big Question: Is the Yorkshire Ripper going to be released early from prison? – The Independent

Posted March 3rd, 2010 in early release, mental health, murder, news, sentencing by sally

“Why are we asking this now?

The serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, who was given 20 life sentences in 1981 for murdering 13 women – he was known as the Yorkshire Ripper because he mutilated his victims’ bodies with a sharpened screwdriver – has applied to the High Court for a ruling on how much longer he must serve in jail.”

Full story

The Independent, 3rd March 2010

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Murders committed by mentally ill ‘could be double what official figures show’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 1st, 2010 in mental health, murder, news, statistics by sally

“The number of murders committed by people with mental health problems could be double what official figures show, according to research.”

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Daily Telegraph, 1st March 2010

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk