Re Kalogiannidis

[2010] QMHC 40

MENTAL HEALTH COURT

CITATION:

Re Kalogiannidis [2010] QMHC 40

PARTIES:

REFERENCE BY THE DIRECTOR OF MENTAL HEALTH IN RESPECT OF LOUIS ALEXANDER KALOGIANIDIS

PROCEEDING:

No 122 of 2010

DELIVERED ON:

8 December 2010

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

8 December 2010

JUDGE:

Philippides J

ASSISTING PSYCHIATRISTS:

Dr E N McVie
Dr G J Byrne

FINDINGS AND ORDER:

1. That at the time of the alleged offence the defendant was of unsound as described in Schedule 2 of the Mental Health Act 2000 (Qld);

That the defendant be detained to The Park High Security Authorised Mental Health Service;2.   

Approval of limited community treatment confined to escorted leave on the grounds of the hospital and in the terms provided in the submission from the Director of Mental Health.3.   

CATCHWORDS:

MENTAL HEALTH – DECLARATION OR FINDING OF

MENTAL ILLNESS OR INCAPACITY – where defendant charged with murder – where defendant attacked victim at boarding house while victim was asleep – where defendant had history of severe treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia – where defendant had been subject to an involuntary treatment order since 2002 – where defendant displayed paranoid beliefs of co-residents at boarding house where defendant was a resident – whether defendant was suffering from unsoundness of mind as described in Schedule 2 of the Mental Health Act 2000 (Qld) at the relevant times

Mental Health Act 2000 (Qld), Schedule 2

COUNSEL:

D Shepherd for the defendant
J Tate for the Director of Mental Health

S Bain for the Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld)

SOLICITORS:

Legal Aid Queensland for the defendant
Crown Law for the Director of Mental Health
Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld)

PHILIPPIDES J:

1. Louis Alexander Kalogianidis is charged with one count of murder of Allan Northley on 6 November 2008.  The charge relates to an incident where the defendant struck the deceased repeatedly with an iron dumbbell at a boarding house where he was residing while the deceased was asleep.

1. The material before the Court indicates that the defendant has a well-documented history of severe treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia.  It is a very longstanding illness which was first diagnosed in 1994 when the defendant was 26 years of age.  The illness is characterised by auditory hallucinations, persecutory, grandiose and referential delusions of a relatively systemised nature.

1. The defendant had been the subject of an ITO since 2002.  His last admission to the Mental Health Unit at the Royal Brisbane Hospital was on 21 October 2008, and during that admission the defendant described having experienced increasing paranoid beliefs regarding co-residents of the Murray Lodge where he resided.  He described many psychotic symptoms, including beliefs of being poisoned, that his life was in danger, and that the residents were planning to kill him because of their jealousy of his relationship with God.

1. He was discharged back to his hostel on 6 November 2008, the day of the terrible events in question.  On that day it is apparent from the reports that the defendant became increasingly convinced that he would be injected with a fatal substance, that his life would end and that that was connected to his thoughts of conspiracy concerning the other residents at the hostel.  He also reported other hallucinations in the period leading up to the events in question.

1. The expert opinion is all united in diagnosing a very severe schizophrenic illness.  The reporters are also all of the view that the illness was of such severity that there was a deprivation of the capacity to know he ought not do the acts in question. 

1. There is no question that a forensic order is warranted in the circumstances of this case.  It is appropriate that at this stage limited community treatment be confined to escorted leave on the grounds of the hospital only and for the periods referred to in the submission from the Director of Mental Health.

1. The finding of the Court is therefore that at the relevant time the defendant was of unsound mind.  I order that the defendant be detained in The Park High Security Programme Authorised Mental Health Service.  I approve limited community treatment confined to escorted leave on the grounds of the hospital for up to three hours twice per week on the conditions contained in the submission from the Director of Mental Health.