Senior constable shot mentally ill man after warning he had phobia of police, inquest hears

I can't even think about a comment to the following story. Just stupid!

Jodie Minus From: The Australian October 11, 2010 1:10PM

NSW Police officers were warned a mentally ill man, who was shot dead by a senior constable, had a phobia of police and should be approached with caution.

Elijah Holcombe, 24, died after being shot in the chest by Senior Constable Andrew Rich in Armidale, in northern NSW, on June 2, 2009.

On the opening day of a two-week inquest into Holcombe's death, Armidale Coroner's Court heard that police were warned the psychology student suffered from a mental illness characterised by paranoid episodes and a phobia of police.

Officers were told over the police radio to "approach with caution'' and that Holcombe was "extremely frightened of police''.

Counsel Assisting the Coroner Chris Hoy told the court that Holcombe, a Macquarie University student, had been living with his parents, Jeremy and Tracey at Wee Waa, in the state's north-west, following concerns about his declining mental health.

On June 1, Mr Holcombe drove his son to nearby Narrabri for a doctor's appointment but while running another errand, Holcombe took his father's car and made the four-hour drive east to Armidale.

Mr Holcombe reported his son missing to Constable Brett Allison at Narrabri Police Station at 4.30pm, telling the officer that Holcombe was suffering from paranoid delusions and was afraid police would extradite him to the United States.

Mr Holcombe warned Con Allison his son would run away if approached by police but that he "would not hurt anybody''.

When Holcombe arrived at Armidale he went to the police station and told the officer at the front counter, Senior Constable John Aitken, that he had stolen his father's car, which was parked on a nearby residential street and that he wanted to be taken to hospital.

Sen Con Aitken organised for Holcombe to be taken to Armidale Hospital by Senior Constable Paul Shelton, while Sen Con Rich was asked to locate Mr Holcombe's silver Falcon.

Holcombe was assessed by registered nurse Carla Rutherford about 1.45pm, on June 2. In her witness statement Ms Rutherford said Holcombe appeared paranoid and could have been experiencing hallucinations.

Holcombe told Ms Rutherford that the "Boongalarees were after him'', but when she questioned who they were, he said he was leaving the hospital and because he was a voluntary patient the nurse could not stop him.

Holcombe was later spotted by Sen Con Rich and his partner, Sen Con Christopher Dufty, walking along Rusden Street, in Armidale's city centre.

The officers pulled up alongside Holcombe in their police vehicle and there was a brief exchange before the young men fled and was pursued on foot by Sen Con Rich.

Holcombe ran through Caffeinds coffee shop, grabbed a bread knife, and then ran out the cafe's back door to Cinders Lane.

Sen Con Rich continued his pursuit, asked three times for Holcombe to drop the bread knife and then shot him in the chest.

State Coroner Mary Jerram said the inquest was not about "pointing the finger, not finding innocence or guilt . . . (but) just how it came to be that Elijah died''.

Mr Hoy said an "integral component'' of the inquest would be to determine whether Holcombe's death resulted from justifiable homicide or not.

The inquest, which will hear from 71 witnesses, would also look at the role of police officers and how they interact with people with a mental illness.

"It is a sad fact that it is so often frontline police officers . . . who generally come in to first contact with troubled citizens,'' Mr Hoy said.

Outside the court Mr Holcombe said he would not speculate on the outcome of the inquest but said he loved his son "more than words can say''.

Aussie Kindergarten Children to be Tracked for Mental Health Issues

The following article appeared on "The Australian" newspaper website on 25 June 2010. Here's the link for the article, if it remains current that is.

Kindy kids to be tracked for mental health

EVERY kindergarten student currently enrolled in NSW will be tracked for the next 20 years in an attempt to find clues on mental illness.

Using the data, which includes birth and education records, researchers from the University of NSW hope to identify early markers that may be associated with the development of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and other mental and social disorders.

The data is being made available by the Department of Education and the Department of Health for more than 80,000 five-year-olds currently enrolled in NSW. It has been approved by the two major research ethics committees in NSW.

Individual children and schools will not be identified in the study, which if successful may lay the groundwork for an Australia-wide model.

"The study will focus particularly on children's emotion regulation, social behaviour, academic achievement and cognitive function and may eventually help to establish effective early detection and prevention programs," study chair Professor Vaughan Carr told The Weekend Australian.

News of the study, set to begin in the next few months, comes on the back of calls for the introduction of a national mental health curriculum in schools.

Australian of the Year and mental health advocate, Pat McGorry, said it was "crucial" mental health awareness was incorporated into the school curriculum, and believed it may help to reduce the amount of deaths related to mental illness.

"Mental illness is the main health issue for young people . . . awareness around the associated risks and warning signs should definitely be mandated in schools," Professor McGorry said.

"Every student should be taught about ill mental health and how to recognise it, because then it might not become so serious."

There is currently no mandated program in Australian schools to teach students about mental health, despite several successful voluntary initiatives.

Tracy Zilm, the national training co-ordinator for MindMatters -- one of the largest voluntary mental health education programs -- echoed the call for a national curriculum, but feared there could be resistance among teachers if such a syllabus was forced on them.

"It's tricky because the attitude that teachers bring changes when you mandate things," she said.

MindMatters was launched in secondary schools across Australia 10 years ago.

"I believe that every student in our school system should be exposed to a curriculum that deals with issues around mental health," Ms Zilm said.

Parent Stephen Grieve, 62, said he would be "more than happy" for his six-year-old son Ben to learn about mental health.

"If we can create a greater level of knowledge and sensitivity around mental illness from a young age, then kids will be able to take that knowledge with them when they move into the greater community," he said.

However, Australian Parents Council executive director Ian Dalton said schools and teachers "should not have to bear the burden of dealing with mental health" and he did not support implementing a national mental health curriculum.

"It would be something we would approach quite cautiously," Mr Dalton said.

"Getting (mental health) education right is important but it should be a more strategic approach that encompasses service providers, families and schools."

It's an interesting concept, that's for sure, and one hell of an undertaking.

If the study and the mentioned mental health curriculum works to dispel mental health stereotypes, misinformation and prejudices then the study and curriculum are both positives. The same could be said if they help save lives.

Focusing solely on the introduction of a mental health curriculum in schools, I do wonder about teachers' abilities to provide such a curriculum. As a whole, are teachers knowledgeable enough to provide non-judgemental, well-informed education when it comes to mental health? I would be more comfortable about the idea if mental health studies were included in education/learning management degrees, if they aren't already. In this way, then the odd prospective teacher who just hasn't got a clue could hopefully be weeded out. Teachers are everyday people after all, and some people hold some pretty horrible ideas in regards to mental health issues.

Still, an interesting study, and I do hope something positive ultimately comes out of it.