Another Note of the Same Refrain

 

I am sad to return to this topic so close to Christmas. I have written about it many times before, knowing that it would be a recurring theme, and indeed it has been. Twice this year, I have written on the topic of murderous attacks on innocent members of the public by mental health patients. In February, I wrote of the attempted murder of a French child by Jonty Bravery at the Tate Modern, followed in March by the horrific murder of 7-year old Emily Jones in Bolton by the paranoid schizophrenic, Eltiona Skana. In both cases, the perpetrators were known to be dangerous, yet, for one reason or another, they were out on the streets. 

The same applies to the case featured today. On August 24, 2019, 69-year-old Allan Isichei, a Jazz musician and former Rugby Union player for the Wasps, was on his way home from his local pub in Southall, West London. 30 metres from home, he had the misfortune to encounter 36-year-old Gurjeet Lall, who, like so many similar killers was (and is!) a paranoid schizophrenic. CCTV shows some kind of verbal exchange after which Lall stabbed Allan Isichei several times. Mr Isichei died in the ambulance taking him to hospital.

Five days ago, Gurjeet Lall was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Like so many killers of this type that I have written about, the verdict remains the same. Etiona Skana, Jonty Bravery, Robert Ashman, etc, all received similar verdicts. What such reports do not include is the unspoken caveat to the verdict: subject to response to treatment. All such offenders become eligible for release if they are judged to no longer be a danger to the public. Robert Ashman, for instance, was released eight years after attacking the then LibDem MP, Nigel Jones (now Lord Jones) and killing Jones' assistant in 2000. There is nothing to stop Gurjeet Lall being released after a period of treatment. He will be sentenced next Monday, but, whatever the length of the sentence, it will be subject to future revision.

The BBC says:

"At the trial at Inner Crown Court in October, jurors heard the killer had been arrested for possession of a knife in 2014 and 2019.Lall told the court he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but could not remember the last time he took his medication."

This is yet another familiar refrain. Nicola Edgington , the first such killer (i.e. another schizophrenic) I wrote about, murdered her mother in 2005 and was released "conditionally" in 2009. In 2011, having failed to admit herself to a secure unit, she murdered  Sally Hodkin on he street in Bexleyheath. In her defence, non-taking of drugs was one of her explanations/excuses.

Allan Isichei's family have asked, rightly:

"Why was a person with a history of carrying knives who was only arrested while carrying one in January 2019 allowed to be back out on the streets unsupervised to carry out this senseless killing?"

Daniel Isichei expressed the view of many relatives who have fallen victim to murderous mental health patients:

"The absolute lack of remorse and denial by the killer, combined with obvious mistakes made by authorities in not having him under some form of supervision licence has all added to our grief."

The Isichei family are calling for a public inquiry into this case. I wish them luck with that, as does, hopefully, every reader of this blog. But, judging by the reactions of the authorities to previous such murders, we will be told that "lessons have been learned", staff "have been spoken to" and there is nothing to stop similar murders from happening in the future.