Actions taken in response to mental health screening at reception into prison

Screening for mental health problems on reception into custody has been criticised. However, there have been few studies on care pathways through custody as a result of screening identification. We aimed to identify what actions were taken as a result of screening positive for suicidal ideation and mental health problems. Case records for 2166 prisoners newly received into five prisons in England and documented contact with health care professionals in the following month were examined by hand over a four-month period. Altogether, 3% of prisoners were screened as having current suicidal ideas, of whom 30% had no contact with mental health services or risk assessment documentation. Another 21% of new receptions received psychotropic medication, for whom over 60% received no primary mental health assessment, and only 36% received psychotropic medication in prison. Care pathways need to be defined, and screening needs to be delivered as originally intended by initial screen for life-threatening matters, followed by a later, comprehensive assessment of health needs.     

Fifty years on: against the stigmatising myths, taboos and traditions embedded within the Suicide Act 1961 (UK)

Although assisted suicide carries a maximum of 14 years imprisonment in England, courts and juries have historically demonstrated a reluctance to convict, most specifically in relation to those travelling abroad to accompany a terminally ill person seeking assisted dying. The possibility of prosecution is still present, however, and there have recently been a number of challenges to the law on assisted dying. During the consultation period of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (UK) an amendment was proposed that would have legalised, among other things, assisting suicide overseas. However, it was voted down by peers who believed it to be dangerously radical. In 2008 a multiple sclerosis sufferer requested a clear policy statement, should her partner help her to seek assisted dying abroad in the future. After her application was initially rejected, Mrs Purdy was granted leave to appeal and following a favourable ruling by the House of Lords in 2009, the Director of Public Prosecutions clarified the law on assisted suicide, introducing a Full Code Test which includes the consideration of "public interest factors". Although the new guidelines are not a direct threat to the 50-year-old Suicide Act 1961 (UK), it is clearly an historic development: the latest in a series of high-profile cases and debates which have taken place over the last decade. It is suggested that English law on assisted dying continues to rely on a range of inappropriate concepts, taboos and superstitions, and it is from this perspective that the implications for future legislative reform are addressed.     

A method for studying knife tool marks on bone

The characteristics of knife tool marks retained on hard tissues can be used to outline the shape and angle of a knife. The purpose of this study was to describe such marks on bone tissues that had been chopped with knives. A chopping stage with a gravity accelerator and a fixed bone platform was designed to reconstruct the chopping action. A digital microscope was also used to measure the knife angle (θ) and retained V-shape tool mark angle (ψ) in a pig skull. The κ value (elasticity coefficient; θ/ψ) was derived and recorded after the knife angle (θ) and the accompanied velocity were compared with the proportional impulsive force of the knife and ψ on the bone. The constant impulsive force revealed a correlation between the V-shape tool mark angle (ψ) and the elasticity coefficient (κ). These results describe the tool marks--crucial in the medicolegal investigation--of a knife on hard tissues.     

Effects of an Alibi Witness’s Relationship to the Defendant on Mock Jurors’ Judgments

Two studies tested the impact of an alibi witness’s relationship to a defendant on the perceived credibility of that witness. In the first study, 291 mock jurors estimated the frequency with which individuals would invent alibis, the frequency they themselves would do so, and the frequency of interpersonal contact among individuals of varying relationships. The degree of relationship between an alibi witness and a defendant remained a predictor of witness credibility when contact frequency was controlled. In the second study, 512 mock jurors were randomly assigned to case scenarios. Skepticism toward witnesses who are biologically or affinally related to a defendant was greater than skepticism toward a socially linked witness. Both studies supported predications from kinship theory and reciprocal altruism.