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The epidemiology of crime, violence and schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Simon Wessely
Simon Wessely*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS
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Extract

The infamous Hungerford Massacre, the multiple murders committed by Michael Ryan in the Berkshire town of Hungerford on 19 August 1987, remain firmly in the public's imagination. It would have been difficult for anyone reviewing the newspapers of that and subsequent days not to conclude that Michael Ryan was mentally ill – headlines ranged from “Day of the Maniac” to “Matricide Points to Schizophrenia”. Because Ryan killed himself and thus there was no possibility of a court case, psychiatrists were free to comment about his mental state and psychiatric diagnosis.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 170 , Issue S32: Assessing risk in the mentally disordered , April 1997 , pp. 8 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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