Mental health grounds see thousands walk free from NSW courts

Thousands of people —including celebrities — are having their criminal charges thrown out of NSW’s local courts on mental health grounds, with one expert claiming the “bar is pretty low” to qualify. See the figures and faces here.

Thousands of people are having their criminal charges thrown out of the state’s local courts on mental health grounds, for offences including stalking, assaulting police, obscene exposure near a school and animal cruelty, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

One expert claimed the bar can sometimes be “pretty low” to qualify as figures show there were 47 charges of wilful and obscene exposure near a school or public place, 349 charges of stalking and intimidating and 346 charges of assaulting police in the execution of their duty dismissed on mental health grounds between June 2021 and June 2022.

It is not just celebrities like cricket great Michael Slater and fallen TV host Andrew O’Keefe who have successfully had charges dismissed and no conviction recorded.

Records show local courts at Liverpool, Bankstown, Burwood, Parramatta and Sutherland are dealing with record numbers of applications including defendants on drugs, common assault and domestic violence offences.

The numbers have soared since Covid lockdowns, up to 2.2 per cent, or 2683, of defendants in local courts in the year from June 2021 to June 2022 having charges dismissed on mental health grounds, compared with 1.7 per cent five years earlier, accordingto figures from the NSW Bureau of Criminal Statistics and Research (BOCSAR).

Andrew O'Keefe successfully had charges dismissed on mental health grounds.

As did former cricketer Michael Slater.

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said he prepares a lot of reports for people seeking to have their case dismissed under the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Act.

“It’s really for people who have genuine mental illness although the bar is pretty low. It’s not as though you have to be floridly psychotic,” Dr Watson-Munro said.

Last week, former Waverley Local Court registrar Craig Cooke had a charge of possessing 15ml of liquid ecstasy dismissed on mental health grounds after Downing Centre Local Court Magistrate Gareth Christofi accepted he had fallen into extreme depression after the death of his husband.

Waverley Local Court last year refused anaesthetist Stephen Klugman’s application to have his case dealt with on mental health grounds after he punched two neighbours in a dispute over a boat parked in their Randwick street.

The court heard father-of-four Klugman had suffered mental health issues after he and his wife were both diagnosed with cancer.

He was convicted of common assault and assault causing actual bodily harm and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order and a 12-month conditional release order.

Actor Ian Stenlake, known for his role in TV drama Sea Patrol, also lost his application to have his case heard under the Mental Health Act in Waverley in 2021 where he pleaded guilty to high-range drink driving, two counts of assaulting police in the execution of duty, two counts of common assault and hindering a police officer in the execution of duty.

Stephen Klugman was also dealt with on mental health grounds. Picture: John Grainger

As was Waverley Court registrar Craig Cooke.

Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman said at the time that she did not find the mental health report handed to her to be “convincing for an established diagnosis of bipolar”.

BOCSAR figures show that between June 2021 and June 2022, there were 468 common assault charges dismissed by local courts on mental health grounds along with 14 charges of cruelty against an animal and 72 charges of contravening an AVO.

At Waverley Local Court, 2.9 per cent of all criminal cases dealt with in that period were dismissed on mental health grounds compared with Central Local Court where 5.5 per cent - the highest percentage in the state - were dropped on the same grounds.

At Liverpool Local Court, 595 people had their cases dismissed, there were 555 in Parramatta, 490 at Sutherland, 452 at Wollongong,408 at Burwood, 402 at Bankstown and 385 at Blacktown.

The state’s busiest court complex, Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, dismissed more defendants on mental health grounds than any other court with 835.

The Downing Centre local court dismissed the most matters on mental health grounds. Picture: Nikki Short

Mental health dismissals have also exploded in the Children’s Court, up to 382 between June 2021 and June 2022, compared with 191 five years earlier.

Dr Watson-Munro said courts were not easily duped.

“We have to trust the judiciary. They can sort the wheat from the chaff,” he said.

He said courts took mental health problems much more seriously these days than a couple of decades ago and said the increasing numbers were probably due to a greater awareness of the issue, especially after Covid lockdowns.

“Forty years at the coal face and it has always been an issue and I would say that 99 per cent of those I have assessed havehad some sort of mental illness or mental impairment,” he said.

HIGH-PROFILE CASES DISMISSED OR REFUSED

MICHAEL SLATER: Troubled former Test cricketer Michael Slater pleaded guilty last year to assaulting an ex girlfriend and a patient at Northern Beaches Hospital. Manly Local Court magistrate Robyn Denes dismissed the assault charge on a hospital patient due to Slater’s mental state but she refused to dismiss the domestic violence charges.

TEGAN KYNASTON: Kyle Sandilands’ fiance, avoided conviction in 2020 for slapping a policewoman while high on cocaine after Waverley Local Court magistrate Allison Hawkins dismissed the charge on mental health grounds.

Tegan Kynaston leaves Waverley Court. Picture: Jeremy Piper

ANDREW O’KEEFE: Case dismissed. Fallen TV host Andrew O’Keefe had domestic violence charges dealt with on mental health grounds in 2021 after “spitting, slapping and kicking” his then-girlfriend. Waverley Local Court magistrate Ross Hudson said there was clear evidence of longstanding bipolar disorder in his family and that O’Keefe was in a hyper manic stage at the time of offending. With 10 attempts at rehab, he’s back in court after pleading guilty to contravening an AVO.

ROBERT DELHUNTY: Application refused. TV personality Deborah Hutton’s ex-boyfriend Robert Delhunty admitted to planting a rape kit at her home and staging a false burglary in an attempt to stop her kicking him out. Waverley Local Court rejected his bid to have the matters dealt with under the mental health act.

Robert Venour Dulhunty. Picture: Joel Carrett

Actor Ian Stenlake. Picture: Zak Simmonds

IAN STENLAKE: Application refused. Actor Ian Stenlake tried to have his case heard under the Mental Health Act in Waverley Local Court in 2021.

He pleaded guilty to drink driving, assaulting police and common assault. Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman said she did not find the mental health report to be “convincing.”

STEPHEN KLUGMAN: Application refused. Waverley Local Court last year refused anaesthetist Stephen Klugman’s application to have his case dealt with on mental health grounds after he punched two neighbours in a row over a boat parked in their street.