The State of Western Australia v Djurasovic

The accused was charged with two counts of murder in respect of the deaths of her two daughters. The accused entered a plea of not guilty on the basis of unsoundness of mind. A trial by judge alone was ordered and the only issue to be determined was whether the accused was of unsound mind at the time of the killings. The court was required to consider the evidence of three expert psychiatrists, all of whom were in agreement that the accused was suffering from a severe major depressive disorder with psychotic features at the time of the killings. In the circumstances, the court was satisfied that at the time of the killings the accused was deprived of the capacity to know that she ought not to do the acts which caused the deaths of her children. Accordingly, the accused was not criminally responsible for her actions and the verdict in respect of each of the two counts was not guilty on account of unsoundness of mind. A custody order was made in respect of the accused pursuant to s 21 of the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996 (WA).