A senior mental health practitioner is to help Hertfordshire magistrates and probation officers improve their understanding of mental health issues.

Starting in mid-September, Mike O'Leary, from the Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will be at St Albans Magistrates Court to give advice and assistance to defendants. Mike is leading a pilot project which will also help identify people who need a mental health assessment.

Mike will provide reports to magistrates sentencing convicted offenders who have mental health issues and give advice to probation officers preparing their own reports and sentencing recommendations.

If the project is successful, it may be introduced in the magistrates courts in Watford and Stevenage.

The initiative is part of Hertfordshire's response to a national report on dealing with offenders who have mental health needs or learning disabilities. Similar schemes have already been piloted in Brighton and Stratford, East London.

Mike O'Leary said: "I am proud that Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has launched this pilot scheme. As well as benefitting mentally disordered offenders by providing a screening and signposting service, it will also promote public safety by identifying individuals whose offending behaviour is linked to a mental disorder. Appropriate treatment can reduce or eliminate further offending and help the individual lead a more fulfilling life."

Sue Urwin, from Hertfordshire Probation Trust, has been working with Mike in setting up the scheme. She said: "This is a hugely exciting initiative that will enhance the work with offenders of both the mental health service and the probation service and will, we hope, reduce re-offending." 

Sue added: "It will ensure psychiatric provision will be focussed on people with the most acute mental health issues and demonstrating the highest level of risk to the public."

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Mike O'Leary, Project Lead, 01727 847787
Richard Upton, Communications Team, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation  Trust,  tel 01727 804791
Barbara McSweeney, Communications Officer, Hertfordshire Probation Trust, tel 01992 504444