Killer set to escape charges
Family despair of mental health system’s handling of schizophrenic, writes Shane Cowlishaw.
THIS December will mark 11 years and one month since the death of Aucklander Kevan Newman. It will also mark the day that his killer can no longer be held accountable.
Newman, a 65-year-old father and bus depot worker, was stabbed in the stomach during a random daylight attack in Henderson in 2005.
He died en route to hospital.
Warnings about his attacker, Martin Lyall, a diagnosed schizophrenic, had been raised with the Waitemata District Health Board days earlier.
During his rampage Lyall also stabbed fishing shop owner Bob Norcross and assaulted a police officer before being shot during an armed standoff.
But Lyall was declared unfit to plead, and was detained at the Mason Clinic as a special patient. In 2013 he was granted unescorted ground leave and has been living outside the clinic six days a week.
Newman’s son Dean is scathing of the way the DHB has handled the case.
The Newmans and other victims were only alerted to his release when Norcross came across him at the supermarket.
December will mark the decade since Lyall was declared a special patient. The statute of limitations means that at that point he will no longer have to stand trial for the crime – even if deemed well enough to do so.
Under the current law Lyall’s fitness to stand trial is assessed every six months by his clinician, with the result relayed to the Attorney General. His final assessment will also be conducted by the same clinician.
The Newman family want assessments from professionals who haven’t been involved in Lyall’s care, and an independent judge to have the final say.
Dean Newman said the lack of feedback and support since had made him feeling powerless. It seemed everything in the mental health system was hidden behind a screen of patient privacy, and no one was accountable.
In his findings released in 2008, Coroner Murray Jamieson recommended the DHB complete a review of its policies on managing patients in the community and provide the findings to the Newman family.
Dean Newman said they never received the review, and Waitemata DHB said it was unable to confirm if the family had received the report.
It was also unable to say what actions were taken as a result of the Coroner’s recommendations because of ‘‘the passing of time’’.
Clinical director Dr Jeremy Skipworth said the fact victims had not been notified about Lyall’s assessments meant there had been no change to his status.
If Lyall remained unfit to stand trial after the statutory period expired, his care would then be managed by a compulsory treatment order.