Some victims of crimes say they’re being constantly retraumatised – feeling forced to go to court for months on end as their accused criminals wait for mental health assessments.
A 1News investigation has found several cases where there have been lengthy delays, with cases unable to progress. In some instances, charges have had to be thrown out.
One man in Rimutaka Prison was hauled in front of a judge eight times to be told no forensic psychiatrist could be found to write his mental health report.
His lawyer, Marty Robinson, said psychiatrists were becoming harder to find.
“So the reports are taking longer and so that just makes the criminal justice process lag and put people like this client in a long waiting situation where they’re stuck in custody, presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
It’s thought cases like this are being repeating up and down the country.
Victims are being retraumatised, advocate Claire Buckley said.
“Their lives are completely on hold and they’re put through a lot of stress during that time because they have to come into court, they don’t know what’s happening, they can’t resolve it in their minds to move on and it just becomes this horrible nightmare,” she said.
Figures obtained by 1News show a steady decrease in the number of forensic psychiatrists since 2022 – from 554 to 519.
Psychiatrists fear it’s a problem that’s only going to get worse.
Dr Justin Barry-Walsh said part of the problem is the ability to earn 50-80% more in Australia.
“I have, I can think of several trainees that have come through – very bright, capable people – who I’ve been involved in their training and, when they’ve qualified, they’ve moved on,” he said.
He said it was sad and upsetting that psychiatrists like him are getting older and may want to retire soon.
With workloads increasing, it’s getting to the point where Barry-Walshe said he was having to turn a lot of cases down.
The delays in some instances have been so profound that judges thrown cases out – although the Ministry of Justice would not comment on how many times this has happened.
The ministry also said it did not track how long it took for people to received mental health assessments.
Said Buckley: “It’s very concerning that we don’t know how bad it is because the effect it has on the victims is profound.
“The long-term effect on the offenders is also really serious because they’re being held in remand which doesn’t have any systems in place to rehabilitate. So they’re not getting any help during that time while they’re waiting in remand. And so we’ve got this lose, lose, lose situation”.
