Legal Aid Council provides help for 107 mentally ill persons
The Legal Aid Council (LAC) has
provided legal representation for 107 mentally ill persons within the last
year.
Hugh Faulkner, the Executive Director
of the Legal Aid Council, said that his organisation was only able to act
because a family member came forward to receive these individuals.
“We are urging persons who have
family members who are mentally ill in custody and have not been going to
court, to contact us once they are willing to undertake supervision and care of
the person,” Faulkner said.
In January, the LAC provided
representation to Leslie Spaulding, a mentally ill individual, who had been in
custody for 23 years.
Spaulding’s case was resolved when
his sister came forward and the council was able to make the requisite
application to the court.
Faulkner stated that the LAC also
provides its clients with expert services such as DNA testing, to aid their case.
“In two of the cases concerning the
mentally ill, we paid private psychiatrists to do the evaluations for the
courts so that the persons were not delayed in the system,” he said.
