Reflecting on Toronto

Late last year, I was fortunate to be invited to Toronto, for the 4th Law Enforcement and Public Health conference to help co-convene a two-day event on ‘law enforcement and mental health’ with Professor Stuart Thomas from RMIT, Melbourne. We got to spend two days with a range of police officers, mental health professionals but […]

Manchester Victoria

Late last night, it was announced by Greater Manchester Police that a twenty-five year old man arrested in connection with the New Year’s Eve stabbings at Victoria station had been ‘sectioned’ under the Mental Health Act and that the investigation was ongoing. Within five minutes, literally, social media was full of comment – much of […]

Twenty Nineteen

The forthcoming year is the sixtieth birthday of the first piece of modern mental health legislation – the Mental Health Act 1959. It’s worth noting this milestone, in my opinion, because sixty years on we are still struggling to think about how we give effect in the real world to some of its requirements. Section […]