An inquest into the December 2022 Wieambilla police massacre has heard evidence the trio responsible shared ‘paranoid delusions’ and would have been unfit to stand trial.
The inquest showed that Nathaniel, Stacey and Gareth Train would have been ruled morally insane had they not been killed in a shootout.
Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity is a legal defence in Australia and thought to be used in as little as 1 per cent of cases.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro explains what happens to the criminally insane in Australia on The Briefing:
An insanity defence means an individual lacks substantial capacity to be held responsible for their unlawful act or action.
People declared criminally insane will remain in a care facility until they are deemed to be sufficiently stable. They are then released back into the community under supervision.
Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said that while many people think that criminally insane people should still be punished, “it is a deprivation of liberty”.
“I think it’s very rare to use it these days in terms of very serious crimes,” Watson-Munro said.
It was said Gareth, the “primary” instigator, likely had a paranoid personality disorder, perhaps from a traumatic injury to the brain suffered at birth.
“I’ve always been about prevention rather than cure. And I think that there needs to be more resources in terms of identifying these people. They may enter the criminal justice system early in life, not committing serious crimes like murder,” Watson-Munro said.
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