The Right Care, Right Person programme has turned up in a highly unexpected place – the appeal of a British citizen against extradition from the United Kingdom to the Republic of Ireland to face criminal prosecution. This post will be brief, not least because leading barrister Alex Ruck-Keene KC has already published a comprehensive post and it quotes extensively from the judgment in Platt v The High Court of the Republic of Ireland (2024).
If you don’t feel you need to read the whole judgment, I’d encourage you to read Alex’s blogpost because I will be far briefer here than I would otherwise be, because of it.
He’s the lawyer, after all – why wouldn’t you read his commentary?!
EXTRADITION
Mr Platt is wanted for arrest in the Republic of Ireland. Authorities there authorised that he be charged with eight offences of deception and giving misleading information during a civil claim he brought in Ireland. An arrest warrant having been issued, Irish authorities sought his extradition from the United Kingdom and in June 2023, a District Judge authorised his expedition, despite Mr Platt opposing it in court.
In the recent judgment, he appeals against the District judge’s decision and cites the mental health of his partner as the prime reason, claiming –
- His first ground of appeal claimed it is “virtually certain” his partner will be ‘sectioned’ under the Mental Health Act 1983 if he is extradited because she will be suicidal.
- The second ground of appeal is a real risk that public mental health services will fail to ensure his partner does not take her own life in part due to the RCRP programme.
NEW MATERIAL
The material offered up to suggest problems with RCRP included some material not available to Mr Platt in June 2023 when his initial extradition hearing was heard. It includes Preventing Future Death reports from two inquests (Heather Findlay and Claire Briggs), the National Partnership Agreement, the letter written by the Chair of the Ambulance Association of Chief Executives (AACE) to the Health and Social Care Select Committee of the House of Commons in January 2024.
Long story made short:
Mr Platt lost his appeal and will be extradited – the judge made extensive remarks covered on Alex’s blog and within the judgment on both of the grounds of appeal, but on the RCRP aspect he stated the material was too general to give rise to concerns the District Judge ought to have reached a different decision and whilst the PFD notices and the letter from AACE were “concerning” he had no reason to think concerns raised within had not been addressed.
GREATER CURIOSITY
I have to say, I’d have loved to see more curiosity about whether the issues had in fact been addressed because my instinct is to suspect they haven’t been but I accept the judge is making an extradition appeal ruling and dealing with the evidence before him, he’s not undertaking an investigation in to the adequacy of the responses to those PFDs and that letter.
Alex’s blog concludes with an important point and it’s worth quoting his final paragraph in full –
“Right Care, Right Person continues to be a policy about which different individuals and organisations have strong views. It is also likely to feature in cases in future where it is more directly engaged than in this appeal. One point that I seek to make about it every time that I am asked about it (which happens a lot) is to remind people that, from a human rights perspective, the State is indivisible – it is the State which owes the obligation to secure the rights protected under the ECHR, not any particular agency of the State. That has implications both for how agencies approach their roles, and how agencies work together to ensure that no one falls between the cracks.”
Are people falling between the cracks? – that’s what the Heather Findlay Coroner was concerned about and it should be noted, very few areas seem to have uploaded newly revised joint protocols to their Freedom of Information schedules for how agencies will cooperate to delivery the MHA in the RCRP world so I do fear the state gaps Alex is cautioning against do exist and have been revealed already.
Winner of the President’s Medal, the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All opinions expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation. (c) Michael Brown, 2024
I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current. Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.
Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk
Mental Health Cop 