Melbourne woman spends much of past nine years in seclusion after being found not guilty of assault due to mental impairment
Karapanagiotidis implored the state’s health and attorney general’s departments, and Forensicare, the state’s specialist provider of forensic mental health services, to work towards transitioning her away from “the highly restrictive conditions she’s been under for years now”. The court heard lawyers for the woman obtained an independent psychiatric report as part of the recent review that raised questions about her treatment.
But he agreed that her continued seclusion was itself a trauma that was contributing to her behaviour.Karapanagiotidis said she was concerned about the lack of progress made in her treatment. “I am optimistic as we develop a plan and commit to things it might progress more quickly than that,” he told the court.
But he said it was positive that Forensicare was planning to handle the case from board level in consultation with a treatment team.