NI: Judge takes aim at Northern Ireland mental health services
Reading time: 1 minute
A judge has warned that Northern Ireland’s criminal justice system could crack under the volume of cases involving mental health issues.
Judge Barney McElholm, sitting in Londonderry Magistrates’ Court, said that “nobody seemed to be doing anything” about a lack of mental health services in the region.
He made the comments during a bail application involving a 39-year-old man charged with threatening to kill and assault his mother.
Judge McElholm said the situation in the courts would get worse “because the mental health of the nation was getting worse and worse”.
The man in the case is in custody in Maghaberry Prison and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, the court heard.
Judge McElholm refused the bail application, but said that social services and community mental health services should be contacted about the case. The man will appear again on 25 September.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
