Two stories in particular caught my eye in this weeks Observer and neither of them were about politicians. The first, under the headline ' Shoplifter with heroin avoids jail' tells of how a 29 year old male was stopped by security staff in Havelock Road after nicking 3 cans of lager from a local supermarket. He was also carrying 248 mgs of heroin, which is of course a Class 'A' drug. His solicitor explained to the court that the thief (for that's what he is) had been in custody since Friday (the case being heard the following Monday) and that he had been very 'compliant'. He continued that "Save for this aberration in December he seems to have sorted himself out"
Well, that's OK then is it Mr Magistrate? Because he had allegedly behaved himself since Christmas and that he had done as he was told by the Prison Officers over the weekend, this justifies 'not enforcing' a £200 fine does it?
What a crazy Justice system we have to misfortune to live under in this country today. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Magistrate in question must have been a little cross with this miscreant, because he ordered the heroin to be destroyed. I bet he spent a few minutes debating whether they could give it back to him!
The second story is unfortunately much more serious and involves the death of a young man with very serious mental health issues. The 22 year old was first taken ill over eight years ago, before which he was a normal healthy, popular and happy school boy. Since October of last year, his mother has been screaming for help from the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust but that help was not forthcoming. Missed appointments were not followed up. Calls for help from his mother and from the young man himself, who was due to marry in September went unheeded.
His mother said that there was not "an inch of my baby's body that was not covered in cuts", on one occasion he took a shard of glass to his own throat and was saved by the emergency team at the hospital. In such situations it is normal for a patient to be interviewed by a psychiatrist before leaving the hospital but because he told the doctors that he was "OK", they believed him and allowed him to go home. At the beginning of February the inevitable happened and this poor sad lad succeeded in strangling himself with the cord of his dressing gown. His mother says that his "death was not a suicide, it was a sacrifice" which he made to protect his family from any more pain.
As appalling as this story is, it is not the first time it has happened. The Coroner gave a suicide verdict on the death of a 19 year old male just one year ago and condemned the Trust for having "missed an opportunity" to help this lad as well. There is still the ongoing investigation into the three deatths at Woodlands Ward.
I have first hand experience in trying to deal with these people and I remember it was a constant battle, on one occasion ending with the psychiatrist ordering me out of a meeting because I did not agree with the way my own sons case was being handled. Albeit that that person was ordered to apologise to me and agree that I was right, it should never have happened. I know what these families have gone through, in a lot of cases the patients are not people, they are 'cases' that can be dealt with just as the book says. But they are not 'cases' - they are real living people who are probably at the most vulnerable point of their lives as anyone can ever get. They need help, they need support and dare I say it, just a bit of love and so do their families. Mental Health has always been the Cinderella of the Health Service and this must change.
People don't kill themselves because they have a broken leg but they do if they have a broken mind. Both Labour and Tory parties have played football with the NHS and poured millions and millions into it and as a result - people go into hospital for a minor op and come out having been killed by filth. Elderly patients are left to starve to death. Patients are left to lay on trolley's along side dead bodies for hours on end. People feel lucky to be treated in store rooms and cupboards - and young men die when all they need is some help.
It must end - and it must end on the 6th of May. Vote English Democrats
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