From: David Kelly <David.Kelly-AT-btinternet.com>
Subject: RE: M-PSY: Laws don't stop lunatics or 'Suicide by Cop"
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 12:42:45 -0000





Brenda & Tony MacCulloch[SMTP:ajmac-AT-iconz.co.nz]  Wrote:-

>Indeed, I agree with your comment about accessability to counselling,
>are people who are labelled 'emotionally disturbed' in fact disturbed; or
>is it our projections upon them that creates that label.  It is of note
>that a hot-line was set up after the event to ensure that those effected
>were given access to counselling, I may be wrong but I think this is a
>pretty standard procedure in these situations. A little like shutting the
>door after the horse has bolted. That is, if counselling had been as freely
>available prior to the event, the event may well have been prevented.


In the wake of the Dunblane murders the press and some residents of Dunblane described the community as "close knit" "peaceful" and "friendly". Yet as the history of the murderer unfolded we saw a picture of a man who had sent out many signals of his desperate state of mind. Not only had he contacted the local population, by circular, he had written to his MP and the queen. He felt that he was being victimised by a  community that were hostile towards him and there seems little doubt that there was some truth in this. Being unable to "deal" with him (for many reasons) the community excluded him. Revenge on the community was apparently part of the motivation for the killing.
There is no doubt that this was a disturbed man but in some respects he was pushed further into his paranoid isolation by the attitude of his community and that of the authorities (those that he contacted and those who where contacted about him) . If his "cry" for help had been heeded or the authorities had reacted to the concerns of the community  a little earlier I'm fairly sure that the tragedy would have been avoided. 

Just a thought

David Kelly


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