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Homicides by mentally ill at record low

The number of homicides by mentally ill people is at its lowest ever level for more than fifty years, according to new research.

Figures from 2004 show there were less than 20 killings per year in England and Wales by people with a mental illness, a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry reported.

This is the lowest ever level since the 1950s, and is largely due to improved treatment, including medication, say the study's researchers.

The study's findings are likely to call into question how best to assess the number of killings attributable to mental ill health. The government-backed National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness reported that in 2004 there were 64 homicides by people who had had contact with psychiatric services within 12 months of the offence.

It states there are a steady 50 homicides per year by people with a “history of mental illness”

But this month's British Journal of Psychiatry (BJP) study stated homicides by people with a mental illness has been in a steep decline since 1970 when it peaked 120 homicides per year, to around 30 in 2000 and 20 in 2004.

Academics acknowledge that the "discrepancies" between the BJP study and the national inquiry figures are largely due to how homicides by people with a mental illness are recorded.

The BJP results were based mainly on court verdicts of "diminished responsibility” to indicate whether a killer had a mental illness. The national inquiry statistics are based on people who had previous "contact" with psychiatric services.

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