M ental I llness C oncerns A ll	Draft Wild was admitted under sections of the Mental Health Act , principally because of depressive indications, because of a problem with alcohol, and because of the possession of, and unusual interest in, and the exhibition of knives. He maintained a work record in unskilled jobs over twenty years.Two marriages broke down. On his own, he moved to a seaside resort, continuing to drink alcohol regularly. He coped poorly on his own, so moved into a hostel. He had one admission from a police station where he claimed to be down in mood and hearing voices. A later admission states quite emphatically 'he is in a hypomanic stage and it is not related to alcohol intake'. The hostel landlord and wife decide to move to a southern resort, and they take Wild and others with them. He continues what is to him social drinking. When the hostel owners decide to leave again, he is left without support but finds it in a flat above another social drinker, who is his landlady. He becomes her 'carer' as she deteriorates. He fails to cope and has depression , and around the same time his social security money is halved. He looks for admission but he is not found to be sufficently in that need. His landlady becomes more dependent on him. They have an argument and he kills her, immediately telling the police. There is no alcohol in his blood. Latterly there was evidence of frontal lobe damage attributed to the alcohol usage. Pre-trial psychiatric reports tell of a personality weakness, a liability to depression reactive to his circumstance, and find insufficient evidence of substantial mental illness. So that he gets life imprisonment for manslaughter. Comment; Wild Inquiry. Home Page         E-mail reaction is welcome mica@didgy.freeserve.co.uk