CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MRS JUSTICE CHEEMA-GRUBB DBE
MR JUSTICE CHAMBERLAIN
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R E G I N A |
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ADRIAN RODI |
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Mr R Wright QC appeared on behalf of the Applicant
Miss K Melly QC appeared on behalf of the Crown
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Crown Copyright ©
LORD JUSTICE SIMON:
For the reasons I have already stated, I have come to the clear conclusion that it was your failure to engage with treatment or to take medication that has led to the mental illness which, in turn, has led to your responsibility being diminished. There is nothing to suggest, in my view, that your mental illness was the cause of your disengagement with the mental health service. You were not symptomatic. You were aware of the risks and you voluntarily chose to disengage from medication and support with catastrophic consequences so far as your mental health was concerned and with the catastrophic consequences that you killed Angel Ryder. It must follow that I have concluded that, for the purposes of the Sentencing Guideline, that you retained a high level of criminal responsibility for your action.
Mr Rodi would have been made aware of his diagnosis, his symptoms when unwell, the early warning symptoms he develops if his mental state were to deteriorate again and the protective factors to prevent/minimise the risk of relapse (namely regular compliance with medication, abstinence from drug/alcohol misuse and managing stress appropriately) before he would have been discharged from hospital.
The general consensus in psychiatric practice is that the longer a person remains compliant with medication, the less the chance of relapse. In Mr Rodi's case, as he had suffered with an episode of severe depression with psychosis, the advice would have been that he comply with medication upon discharge for at least a few years. I am therefore of the opinion that Mr Rodi's relapse is strongly linked to his non-compliance with anti-depressant/anti-psychotic medication and disengagement from the Community Mental Health Team follow-up.
The lack of engagement with treatment itself is unlikely to be due to his mental illness as there appears to have been a gap of at least five months between him discontinuing his then prescribed anti-depressant medication in December 2015 and him being discharged by the community forensic team in Leeds in April 2016. In my view, he would not have been discharged if he was symptomatic at that time.