System failed NT woman, inquest hears

TWO families devastated by a killing that shocked Alice Springs are united in the sense of betrayal they feel towards the mental health system.

Gwvynyth Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt and Rocky Manu were flatmates for 18 months before the paranoid schizophrenic Manu killed her in November 2011.

Ms Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt, 36, was found with multiple stab wounds in what Coroner Greg Cavanagh described as "a frenzied attack".

The flat was leased to the pair by the Mental Health Association of Central Australia (MHACA), but an inquest into the killing has heard that they were left completely unsupported by authorities when Manu, now 45, stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication four months before the tragedy.

There was confusion about who was responsible for following up Manu's treatment, and although several people knew he was relapsing, there were no proper channels for them to report it.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer, said in her closing submissions on Friday that the systems of the Alice Springs Hospital and the Central Australian Mental Health Service (CAMHS) had been "deficient in the extreme".

She said Manu's committed and supportive family were led to believe doctors had his treatment under control, when they did not, and that the concerns they repeatedly expressed to Manu's psychiatrist, Dr Prosper Abusah, asking for more involved treatment should have been given more weight.

Dr Dwyer said Dr Abusah was ultimately responsible for allowing Manu's treatment to lapse.

Multiple witnesses testified that Manu had never been homicidal or suicidal, and that he had no history of violence.

But they also said he could be aggressive and intimidating when unwell.

They said his paranoia and suspicion resulted in increasingly controlling behaviour towards his housemate, such as forbidding her friends and family from visiting the unit, making her remove all technology from the house, banning her from speaking his name, and suspecting her of poisoning his food.

Mr Cavanagh said Manu could be difficult to manage.

"A man called Rocky: intelligent, manipulative, full well knowing after 20 years the mental health requirements for him and not liking them, could work the system to get what he wanted, and not what the community wanted," he said.

Manu wanted his own life and was resistant to having a case manager watching over him.

Ms Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt was a peer worker with the MHACA, and her colleagues may have forgotten she was also vulnerable, and did not check on her regularly, Dr Dwyer said.

"Because she was such a competent, clever woman, it appeared on the surface things were going well."

But Ms Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt didn't feel she could speak to authorities about concerns she had about Manu's behaviour, motivated by a desire to help him get well as she had.

The coroner will hand down his findings at a later date.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

System failed NT woman, inquest hears

Dengan url

http://mesinjahitan.blogspot.com/2013/08/system-failed-nt-woman-inquest-hears.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

System failed NT woman, inquest hears

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

System failed NT woman, inquest hears

sebagai sumbernya