SMH Article
“There is a debate in this case as to whether that condition was self-induced”
The judge that allowed the bail clearly thinks that there is grounds for an appeal. In court on the day of sentencing, both lawyers argued for different interpretations of the law. The law says that mental illness makes a person not responsible for their actions, but it also says that if a person takes drugs or alcohol and is responsible for their own impairment, then they must take responsiblity for their actions.
The judge ruled on the day that he was responsible, and that he must face the consequences. The expert witness (Dr Allnut) testified that there was a “history of mental illness” in the McMahon family, but during cross examination, it was revealed that in one of their first interviews (while McMahon was alledgely still in a psychotic state), McMahon had told him that his brother suffered from bipolar disorder. No-one ever checked out this story (to my knowledge), and even if it is true, does one brother with a mental illness (wether mild or severe) constitute a “family history”?
And if there is a family history, surely knowledge of this would act as a deterrent from indulging in mind altering substances.
Whatever the appeals court decides, I really don’t know if I have the strength to attend the court again. I felt a little safer knowing that McMahon was behind bars, but I feel no malice towards him. Revulsion, yes, but malice is not helpful. His acts were worse than awful, but I do believe he wasn’t well when he did them. He might be well now, but there is a very thin line between in and out of control once you have a drug addiction. McMahon claims to love all animals, but that love wasn’t enough to prevent him from becoming a monster.
The most important thing for me has always to do what I could to make sure that this never happened again. I don’t feel that I acheived very much, but it was all I could do, and now I am not sure that I can do any more. Maybe I’ll hate myself if I don’t go to court, but maybe it’s time to just let the courts decide, and let this case fade from my horizon, but I’ve never been good at hiding from an ugly truth. I have already been pilloried by the press, and marginalised so that my input into the case would probably do more harm than good at this point.
I don’t belive that the criminal justice system should be solely concerned with punishing the perpetrators of crime, nor should it be only concerned with protecting the innocent. If there is to be social justice in our criminal system, it must be concerned with rehabilitation, and prevention as protection from evil, rather than punative action after the fact.
The victims in this case have no voice, and my voice is not loud enough.
Disco Knitter 