the policy change<\/a> had a massive impact on their family, and he\u2019s convinced it contributed to events that fateful day.<\/p>\nNow, he\u2019s pleading for change so there is real help available for families struggling with a loved one in mental distress. <\/p>\n
Earlier, the young man, whose name is suppressed, had pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his father, on the grounds of insanity.<\/p>\n
At a recent High Court hearing to decide if the young man should be detained as a special patient, his father made a heartfelt plea to the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want my kid to get better,\u201d he told Justice Karen Grau.<\/p>\n
Speaking without notes, the father told the court of the difficulties getting help for his son, especially when he was acutely unwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be help; we would call the police, and they would come,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the 18 months before the changed police policy took effect, he estimated, police visited their home seven or eight times.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it was enough for them to show up and have a chat with their son. Other times they\u2019d convince the son to get in the patrol car and drive him to the hospital. They didn\u2019t have to use force. <\/p>\n
\u201cPersonally, I think a uniform is powerful. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our son was going through a crisis, when he\u2019s not necessarily a danger to society or himself, but he\u2019s just not himself \u2013 they were there to help. That was fantastic. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like we had support; we could call someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
But about six months before the stabbing, things changed. Whereas under the former system the police would turn up and be a calming presence, mental health services as first responders under the new system weren\u2019t as responsive. <\/p>\n
The father estimates he called mental health services twice before the stabbing, to be told that they couldn\u2019t assemble a team at short notice and that he should make an appointment in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say we don\u2019t have enough people to send a team \u2026 it can\u2019t be just one person coming up because it could be dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, they suggested he bring his son into the hospital.<\/p>\n
But when his son refused to get in the car, the father was told he couldn\u2019t force him, because that was against the law.<\/p>\n
Breathtakingly stupid, poorly conceived: lawyer <\/p>\n
The young man\u2019s lawyer, Phil Mitchell, was more direct, describing the policy change as \u201cbreathtakingly stupid, poorly conceived\u201d and adamant that it will result in a loss of life.<\/p>\n
Mitchell says it\u2019s only luck that his client wasn\u2019t charged with murder, simply because the knife didn\u2019t sever an artery. As it was, the father\u2019s wound required stitches, and he spent a night in hospital under observation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely 100% inevitable that a number of people are going to be killed by their family members or random members of the public are going to be killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Justice]()
Justice Karen Grau said she was satisfied, based on the expert reports, that the young man was suffering a disease of the mind at the time of the stabbing. <\/p>\n
Justice Grau expressed similar sentiments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very serious event that resulted in serious harm that could very easily have been fatal,\u201d she said, adding that treatment in the community hadn\u2019t been effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless and until [the young man] receives the help he needs, his risk to others will remain high,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the police insist there is no blanket direction preventing them from attending mental health callouts.<\/p>\n
They will turn up where there is an immediate risk to life or safety, or where a crime has been committed. <\/p>\n
But for non-emergency requests for assistance, these calls are prioritised and, where appropriate, are referred to mental health services.<\/p>\n
The changes were introduced under the Mental Health Response Change Programme, which also aims to reduce the handover time of people detained by police at emergency departments and make changes to mental health assessments in custody.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the intent of these changes is to achieve better outcomes for individuals, their families and the wider community, ensuring people receive the right care, at the right time, from the right service,\u201d police said in a statement.<\/p>\n
But one mental health provider says the policy change has left gaps in the system.<\/p>\n
John Moore is the chief executive of Yellow Brick Road, a charity that provides support for wh\u0101nau who have a loved one experiencing mental health challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere there is a gap, there is risk; it doesn\u2019t take much to go wrong for this sort of situation to arise, and while we are waiting for that gap to be plugged, I can see potentially other severe consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m being monitored and targeted<\/p>\n
That morning, the young man told a nurse from the community mental health team, under whose care he was, that he feared his life was in danger.<\/p>\n
His diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder (formerly known as manic depression) caused mood swings that fluctuate between depression and elevated mood status and can be associated with periods of psychosis.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d asked the nurse if her phone was being monitored, and told her his internet was being monitored and his phone was being hacked.<\/p>\n
However, his father wasn\u2019t aware of any of this until he heard it in court. He wants to know why, given his son\u2019s comments to staff and his own text, more wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, it sounds like there were signals that my son needed help, but nothing happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he\u2019d earlier been given assurances by the doctor that \u201cthe minute there is a problem, we\u2019ll be there\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it [the stabbing] was six hours later, and they weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the father was asked why he\u2019d texted mental health services that morning, rather than call them, he said that given their past interactions they were unlikely to turn up at short notice anyway.<\/p>\n
And he didn\u2019t call the police because although he and his wife were worried about their son, they didn\u2019t feel there was an imminent threat. <\/p>\n
Once alerted after the stabbing, the police arrived quickly to find the young man and his father struggling, his son still adamant that his life was in danger.<\/p>\n
At the hearing, Justice Grau made it clear that neither parent should blame themself for what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger picture, and the illness is bigger than all of you could cope with,\u201d she told them. <\/p>\n
![\"Police]()
Police Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny says police continue to work closely with Health NZ to progress the mental health response change programme safely. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
In a statement, Police Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny says the mental health response change programme, which is being introduced in four phases, is focused on improving how people experiencing mental distress are supported, ensuring they receive timely care from the most appropriate professionals.<\/p>\n
She says specialist mental health services are trained to assess, manage and de-escalate individuals experiencing mental distress, including those who present with challenging or unpredictable behaviour. . <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Health NZ\u2019s director of specialist mental health and addiction, Karla Bergquist, says if a person is in serious mental distress or crisis, they should contact their mental health crisis team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur crisis and treatment teams provide 24\/7 access for people experiencing acute mental health or addiction crises and are mobile in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrisis teams support those experiencing serious mental distress or crisis and their family and will help to develop a plan to ensure the person receives the appropriate care and support.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, the Government has also announced plans to expand co-response teams, which see specialist mental health clinicians paired with frontline police to attend mental health-related callouts.<\/p>\n
The teams already exist in the Waitemat\u0101, Waikato, Taranaki, Wellington and Southern districts. Last year\u2019s Budget provided $10 million to fund 10 new co-response teams, the first four of which will be in Auckland, Counties-Manukau, Bay of Plenty and Canterbury, as well as to support the existing teams. <\/p>\n
Health NZ says the teams will help improve the experience for those experiencing mental distress, ensuring more people receive the right support from the right services at the right time.<\/p>\n
The teams may also connect people in distress with other agencies or support networks within the community who can help provide wraparound support, such as housing support teams.<\/p>\n
Yellow Brick Road CEO Moore says it\u2019s clear police will still respond where there\u2019s a risk, or if an offence has been committed.<\/p>\n
But he says families have yet to report any increase in resourcing in relation to the co-response teams, adding that they would welcome them.<\/p>\n
Asked if families have reported any changes as part of the mental health change programme, Moore said he hadn\u2019t seen any developments that suggest mental health services were picking up the slack from police in non-urgent cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a complementary initiative from health, so we\u2019ve got police pulling out of certain mental health call-out response, and we don\u2019t have any new service provision to meet the needs that they were previously meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the practical barriers is getting a mentally unwell person to a hospital, so they can be seen by health professionals. <\/p>\n
As a result, he says, some families are reluctant, or unable, to take their loved ones to a hospital, something police did in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019ve got a mental health system response that\u2019s inaccessible to them now, because the police aren\u2019t helping them to get their acutely unwell person to see a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, he says, families who are already in a heightened state of fear and anxiety are having to wait for the situation to deteriorate before calling the police.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s insanity; the policy is insane\u2019<\/p>\n
Announcing plans to introduce new, higher thresholds for attending mental health callouts in August 2024, then Police Commissioner Andrew Coster cited the need to relieve demand pressures on police time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMental health demand accounted for 11% of all calls to the police emergency communication centre in the year to May 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained the policy change would give the police more time to do the work that only police can, and which communities expect them to do.<\/p>\n
But Phil Mitchell, the young man\u2019s lawyer, who spent nine years as a police officer, rejects that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re being asked to come and take someone who is either acting violently or about to act violently, and the police are the sole agency that is trained to deal with violent people and to talk people down and to use reasonable force if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mental health staff don\u2019t have Tasers or handcuffs and aren\u2019t trained to restrain people with various wrist and arm locks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamental role of the police is to protect life and property. That\u2019s what their job is, that\u2019s what their essence is, and this policy removes that obligation from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the drain on police resources, Mitchell says a car is driving around patrolling, waiting to be sent to a job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are there anyway; why not use the resources which are there, rather than say \u2018ring the hospital\u2019, which is often very difficult. They\u2019ll just say, \u2018We don\u2019t have the staff, we don\u2019t have a team, we can put a team together, but it will take four hours.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Moore also says families reported they felt police were doing a good job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that they didn\u2019t come in as mental health experts and came in with a fair amount of humanity, whilst also having the ability to manage situations if they escalated, was quite positive\u201d. <\/p>\n
Mitchell says the change has left a vacuum. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no other government agency that is trained to deal with people who are in a psychotic state, and so the absurdity of the situation is that police are now saying to families, and I know this, you call us when a crime has been committed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo once your deeply unwell son has committed a violent crime, then we will send someone, but we are not going to send someone until he\u2019s done that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just \u2013 excuse the pun \u2013 it\u2019s insanity; the policy is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
The hearing to decide if the man should be made a special patient was held recently in the High Court at Wellington. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n
Insane at the time<\/p>\n
To find someone not criminally responsible by reason of insanity, a judge must make an order under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003.<\/p>\n
A judge can then make someone a special patient, a category of persons who warrant \u201cextraordinary precautions\u201d and require \u201coptimal care and treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is a restrictive detention order with serious limitations and obligations, lasting indefinitely and remaining in force until the Minister of Health discharges or varies it.<\/p>\n
The Crown, represented by prosecutors Claire Hislop and Michaela Waite-Harvey, sought an order that the man who stabbed his father be made a special patient on the grounds of public safety.<\/p>\n
Neither Mitchell nor his client opposed it.<\/p>\n
At the hearing, two psychiatrists agreed that the young man met the criteria for an insanity defence.<\/p>\n
The court heard the young man had a longstanding and complex psychiatric history, was in a psychotic state at the time of the offending and was incapable of knowing right from wrong.<\/p>\n
He also had a recurring pattern of not taking his medication after being released from mental health facilities.<\/p>\n
When he stopped taking his meds, he got unwell and was admitted to the hospital, where, once medicated, he\u2019d improve to the point of discharge, only to then have a swift relapse when he stopped taking his medication.<\/p>\n
It also emerged that during his latest stint in hospital, he\u2019d minimised his symptoms to secure an early release.<\/p>\n
Justice Grau concluded that repeated admissions and mental health orders had failed to manage his illness or his risk to others. <\/p>\n
She also noted that when he deteriorated, these changes weren\u2019t easily detected by clinicians or his family.<\/p>\n
In her ruling, Justice Grau said she was satisfied with the expert reports that the young man was suffering a disease of the mind and had a relapse of his bipolar disorder at the time he stabbed his father.<\/p>\n
She said it was also clear from the experts that the young man was incapable of understanding that his actions were morally wrong that day, and his actions were driven by his delusional beliefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find he was insane at the time he committed the offence.\u201d She was in no doubt that a special patient order was necessary.<\/p>\n
\u2018I want my son to have a normal life\u2019<\/p>\n
Moore says he would love to see the police and health working together on a joint response, encompassing the skills and attributes that they bring to this kind of work.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d like them to come up with a system that doesn\u2019t have gaps and gets the right resources to families when they need them.<\/p>\n
Mitchell says there\u2019s no logic to the policy, and it should be revoked immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no point in having \u2018oh, once you\u2019ve stabbed someone, give us a call\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
They are sentiments that the father echoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to walk back on that decision; it was a mistake. The programme was really good; it was successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want my son to have a normal life, to follow his dreams, like everybody else,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently, she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fearing he was in imminent danger and about to die, he\u2019d gone to the study to grab his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,12974,9064,2082,42,16718,61094,116581,43,46728,675,7254,22639,72230,40,38,41,39,124802,102],"class_list":["post-497358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-change","tag-fathers","tag-for","tag-headlines","tag-him","tag-knife","tag-mentally","tag-news","tag-plea","tag-police","tag-policy","tag-son","tag-stabbed","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-unwell","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}