The matter I wish to raise is the need for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to intervene directly in the case of an Irish citizen, of whom I have supplied details to the Department, held in a British mental hospital for the last eight years without conviction of a criminal offence and without recourse to the courts and to secure his transfer to an Irish facility. First, I am very encouraged and heartened by the positive response that I have had from the officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I believe they take this case seriously on both compassionate and legal grounds.
I would like to give a very quick background to the case. This is a young man who entered Trinity College in 1970 and took a degree in literature there, so he is obviously a highly intelligent man. In 1976 he went to Nigeria where he worked for a while, but he discovered that his father was seriously ill; in fact his father died and he came home to Dublin for some weeks. He then discovered that he had been incubating a series of tropical diseases, including malaria and hepatitis, so he became seriously ill and did not return to Nigeria. He contemplated taking further training as a teacher but discovered that this was not in accordance with his personality and he decided to go into the home decorating business.
In 1982 he discovered that there was a community living on an island off the west of Ireland called the Atlantis Community, known popularly as the Screamers, and he felt that these were people who could offer something to him in the way of development of his personality. He went to investigate and discovered that among the people there was a young woman to whom he found himself greatly attracted and they became involved in a quasi-erotic situation, although it subsequently was clear that she was using her powers of attraction in order to enmesh him further in this sect.
He found the situation extremely frustrating and eventually left for his brother's wedding, returning once more to the community, but there was a series of incidents during which he found the young woman alternately seductive and rejecting.
He came back to live with his mother in Dublin and spent some time decorating the family home and doing other decorating work around Dublin. However, he then decided to go back to the community and discovered that there was a similar organisation in England called the Raj Neesh Organisation and he felt he could get what he needed in that community.
Similar circumstances, which I will not detail, occurred there. He developed an obsession with a therapist who was using primal scream therapy and sensory deprivation but she became distanced from him, and he became obsessed with her. He managed to break into the community's premises and attacked a guard. This led subsequently to his arrest and he was transferred to Norwich Prison.
While he was in the prison he asked to see the chaplain and while he was being conducted to the hospital chapel he took a warden hostage and held him there for eight hours while negotiations took place. He was obviously under severe mental and emotional strain as a result of the complexion of circumstances I have described, his unsatisfactory job situation, the death of his father and his various serious illnesses combined with an emotional vulnerability which had been exploited by this very curious religious sect.
He was subsequently transferred to Broadmoor Hospital on 6 August 1984 and then transferred to Moss Side Hospital in June 1987 and he is now in Ashworth Hospital in Liverpool.
One of the really worrying things about this, to me and to anybody who believes in civil liberties, is that here is a man who was emotionally vulnerable; he was in a difficult situation; he did commit an assault but it is a severe sentence. If he had committed murder he might be out now. He has already served eight years and because he is in prison under the Mental Health Act he has no recourse to the courts, he cannot appeal and he has no redress against this situation.
In 1989 he was examined by an independent psychiatrist, a Dr. Roberts, with a string of initials after his name which I will not waste the time of the Seanad by putting on the record. I transmitted these facts to the Department of Foreign Affairs this morning:
The Nurses report that Mr. Wilson has not shown any particularly abnormal behaviour now for many months. He presents them with no nursing problems. He has not shown any symptoms which can be attributed to mental illness. He attends school in a regular and committed way and spends much of his time studying for a Postgraduate Degree.
The psychiatrist interviewed Mr. Wilson and said:
Mr. Wilson greeted me on my second visit in a friendly and direct manner and was clearly pleased to be able to talk about the incident. He tells his story in an utterly consistent manner and clearly some of the events which he relates still cause him some distress. At no stage during the interview did he express ideas which were of themselves psychotic although he was describing events which were extraordinary.
Then there is a summary of comments from this eminent, independent doctor:
I do not believe Mr. Wilson is demonstrating any signs of mental illness at the present time.
2. I believe Mr. Wilson has been mentally ill and that his mental illness began to develop around the time that he went to the Atlantis Community for the first time.
3. I think that Mr. Wilson's illness is of a very unusual kind and can only be understood by reference to the events which were happening to him and his perception of them.
5. His ability to form relationships with people, his warmth and sense of humour and his ability to concentrate on his studies all bear testimony to the fact that he is well at the present time.
6. I do not believe that he is in need of further treatment within a secure situation.
7. He acknowledges the dangers in what he did and does not seek to excuse himself other than to say he has behaved in a silly and wrong way.
This is a man who has attested professionally to the fact that the subject of my interest this evening was a well person mentally in 1989. This begs the question if he is not now well, what kind of hospital is it in which he is being contained? If somebody had returned to mental health in 1989, a citizen of Ireland, how is it that it can now be maintained that his situation has deteriorated to such an extent that he cannot with any justice be released?
I have this gentleman's permission to quote from his letters. In my opinion — and I am used to assessing students professionally — they show a man of considerable intelligence and capacity to express himself who has been through a harrowing experience:
I can honestly say that the longer I have spent in Ashworth the more my mental and physical health has deteriorated. The Mental Health Act is the only piece of legislation in the United Kingdom where a person can be indefinitely detained beyond the limit of their sentences or without a trial. In my case I never had a trial.
Shades of the Birmingham Six; there is no release date.
I have been told by the medical team on Gibbon, that is the ward, as politely as possible that I can reasonably expect to serve another five years on top of the eight I have served.
This is not the worst. He finds his separation from Ireland the worst. He says:
What would not apply in Ireland would be the soul destroying sense of isolation which I endure over here year in, year out. In these places if you are deprived of contact with somebody from the big world out there after all the years you become totally institutionalised and eccentric. I have seen it happen to others. That is why I wished and prayed for years to be sent home.
He continues:
For my first four years over here I spent the bulk of my time in solitary confinement in a ten foot by eight foot concrete box with nothing for company but the smell of my excreta in a plastic chamber pot and the muffled sound of a shout or cry in the distance, not knowing night from day but being alive like in a coffin. I received no help from anybody. I believe the fact that I come from an educated background and read a lot has been my greatest drawback over here.
He believes the fact that he took a prison officer hostage has not helped his case. He does not think he will be able to endure this for another five years. I have transmitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs a report from The Guardian newspaper dated 1 March 1992 in which David Brindle, the social services correspondent, indicates that an inquiry has taken place into this hospital as the result of the death of a person called Sean Walton, who also sounds Irish, following a beating. An inquiry has been carried out into conditions in this hospital.
I ask the Minister to raise this matter at the very highest level as a matter of urgency. He should contact the Home Secretary and ensure at the very least that this man is transferred to an appropriate environment. Obviously the most appropriate environment is in Dublin where his family, including his mother who is elderly, will be able to visit him.
This appalling case involving an Irish prisoner who committed an offence by striking someone in the face when he was under extreme mental and emotional pressure should be addressed so that he will not have to endure what can only be described as a living death in an English hospital without being sentenced. I am sure it is possible to do something to bring this talented man who has already spent eight years in what amounts to confinement in a British jail back home where his mental health would undoubtedly improve.
