(French psychiatrist sentenced after
patient commits murder)
Reuters-12 hours ago
French psychiatrist, Daniele Canaralli(58)
was handed a one-year prison sentence and ordered to pay 8,500 euros to the
victims children, in the first case of its kind in France. The psychiatrist’s
patient of four years, a Joel Gaillard, “hacked to death 80-year-old Germain
Trabuc with an axe in March 2004”. He was found guilty of manslaughter on
Tuesday and Canarelli was said to have “committed a grave error by failing to
recognize the public danger” he patient posed. Canarelli refused to heed to the
suggestions of her colleagues to place Gaillard in a “specialized medical unit
or refer him to a medical team”. He had already been committed forcibly to a
secure hospital several times for several dangerous accounts and yet he had the
opportunity to commit this horrific murder. Due to his mental state he “was not
held responsible for his actions and was freed under medical supervision” while
the blame for this incident was placed on the psychiatrist, as they are
responsible for their patients and for determining the risk they pose to
society.
I think the sentence could have been more
extreme for Canarelli but considering it’s the first case of its kind in
France, it is understandable. Perhaps in the future if other occurrences take
place, licences will be under review. Something like this should not have
happened and I agree that psychiatrists need to be very careful and aware of
their patients; making good judgements on the threat they pose. Hearing of this
story has made me consider mental illness further and I hope that this neglect
does not persist. Her patient was clearly very unwell, had a record of
dangerous incidents, and yet room was allowed for this murder to take place. It
is a tragedy for all those involved.
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