Mental Health Cop
1,286 FOLLOWERS
Hi! I'm Michael. Welcome to my award-winning BLOG on policing, mental health and criminal justice. I've run this site for the last ten years and it's been used way more than two and a half million times around the world. Perhaps more importantly, it got me a job working full-time on the issues I've written about and a chance to influence the laws, policies and policing across..
Mental Health Cop
5d ago
A very interesting new (and mercifully short!) judgment has been issued by the High Court after a debacle in police custody of the kind I’ve been writing about for well over a decade. If you’re professionally involved in these matters, I do recommend reading all nine pages of the ruling, but I’ll summarise it here ..read more
Mental Health Cop
6d ago
We knew a few weeks back the Independent Office for Police Conduct was working on the production of a ‘position statement‘ on Right Care, Right Person. It has now been published on their website, dated March 2024. The position statement speaks for itself in many respects: it was sought, I believe, because forces and their ..read more
Mental Health Cop
1w ago
When Her (late) Majesty, Queen Elizabeth died in 2022, I noted one of the things we were told we’d see change was the names of criminal cases. We’d all been used to seeing Regina v Surname but instead, we’d see Rex v Surname. Today’s sentencing at the Old Bailey is actually the first time I’ve ..read more
Mental Health Cop
2w ago
The coroner in my home area issued a very sad Preventing Future Deaths report in February 2024 which has just been published on the Chief Coroner’s website. It relates to the conveyance by ambulance of a young patient who had been detained under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (admission for assessment) and ..read more
Mental Health Cop
2w ago
Some Preventing Future Death (PFD) reports on the Chief Coroner’s website are a little frustrating because they don’t always give a full explanation of what has gone on and don’t necessarily make full sense we read the circumstances of death and then look at the matters of concern. In case you’ve not looked at them ..read more
Mental Health Cop
2w ago
Last week, the Court of Appeal heard submissions the restricted hospital order sentence for Valdo Calocane, who pleaded guilty in January to three offences of manslaughter (diminished responsibility) and three attempted murders in Nottingham, was unduly lenient. This followed referral from the Attorney General who took the view the sentence was unduly lenient. The referral ..read more
Mental Health Cop
3w ago
The Court of Criminal Appeal heard evidence this week about the sentence for Valdo Calocane, the man convicted in January of the awful attacks which took place last year in Nottingham. It was announced shortly after he was sentenced that the Attorney General had referred the matter to the appeal court under the ‘unduly lenient ..read more
Mental Health Cop
3w ago
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) issued a position statement on Right Care, Right Person in March 2024. It is re-produced in full, below only in case it subsequently is removed or amended in the future. Quite incidentally, I’ve realised since starting this website, I’ve often linked to things because they represent a position ..read more
Mental Health Cop
3w ago
I went looking to find my post on section 115 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), having been asked a question about it – idea was to save myself some time by just emailing the post and seeing if that took care of the question. Turns out I hadn’t written one! – so here ..read more
Mental Health Cop
1M ago
The tragedy in Hainault is unimaginable and I’m really trying to comprehend what the family of the fourteen year old victim must be going through. I doubt much can help, but I hope they’re getting whatever the country can give them in support. My second thoughts around this were for the two injured police officers ..read more