An independent inquiry into what drove Stephen Soans-Wade, a mentally ill man and drug addict, to push Christophe Duclos under a train at a London underground station in September 2002 has concluded that mental health services had failed to assess the risk he posed to others in the weeks building up to the murder. However, the report also concluded that even if he had received the best care possible he still might have gone on to push the security guard from France onto the tracks of Mile End tube station.
He was found guilty of murder in 1994 and sentenced to life, despite claiming that voices in his head had told him to do it. His defence team attempted, unsuccessfully, to have the charge lowered to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He had once told a doctor that if he didn’t get help he would push someone in front of a bus or train.
The inquiry, commissioned by NHS London, reported that Soans-Wade suffers from “a psychotic disorder, possibly schizophrenia, mental and behavioural disorders because of drug use and various personality disordersâ€, although several doctors had discharged him from hospital in the week leading up to the murder because of no evidence of mental health issues.
He had tried in the six week period before the murder to get himself admitted to hospital three times, visited his doctor in distress twice, tried to overdose on paracetamol pills, had threatened to kidnap a doctor, and was admitted into hospital or taken by police five times. He had a history of violence as well as drug use, including heroin and crack.
The inquiry criticised the National Health System for not conducting a risk assessment on him, poor coordination between various departments and a lack of documentation, and recommended changes in these areas. It is also called for better ways of treating those with a combined mental illness and drug problem.
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