[posted edited by moderators - Australian State of police removed; TW added]
Sorry everyone, this might be a heavy one. I would just like to know if anyone out there has had experience with dealing with the Police as a result of a psychotic episode? My husband had a major psychotic episode earlier this year which meant that I had to call the police to ensure they would take him to the hospital.
The problem is that my husband was highly delusional at the time and locked himself in the bathroom with sharp objects. In the end, the police ended up having to break a door, a window to get him out, and they used capsicum spray as well as tasers on him (to protect themselves from the sharp implements presumably). Mind you, none of the police officers were hurt physically at the time.
After the incident, the police contacted me to say that one of the officers had made an allegation of some sort of assault against my husband and that there would be an investigation after his return from hospital. My husband's lawyer advised him to go to the interview at the police station and just say no comment. Now, my husband is pretty much under control and follows his treatment, he's still being followed by a case worker every fortnight. We had not heard from the police, so I was hoping they would not pursue. But now, he has just been contacted by them to say he has a court date in February at a social justice court. They have not sent the paperwork to his lawyer yet, so we don't know what the charge is exactly.
Needless to say, my husband is massively anxious about it: he's worried about potentially going to jail (even though his lawyer said it would be unlikely), he's worried about what to tell the kids, he's worried about how this will affect his job, etc...
I would just like to know if anyone out there has ever heard of such hard ball stance from the police? I called them to help my husband go and get treatment, I had no idea they would bother to make a case against someone this vulnerable! I can't help but feeling angry and like we're being treated unfairly. I would love to have insights from others on this issue. Do you think that the Police are covering themselves to justify the fact that they use tasers and capsicum spray in that situation? Please let me know if this is a common occurence, all the doctors were surprised when we told them about the police's decision.
It sounds like a very tough place to be in. I can't say I have experienced such a thing, but it sounds like your husband was acutely unwell at that time. @cherryblossom8
As much as we are not able to provide legal advice, it certainly sounds like your lawyer has a fair understanding of the situation.
We are sorry to hear the anxiety this is putting you all through. It must be incredibly difficult to move on when you have this situation hanging over your head. I hope you get the support you need at this time. You deserve it. No one asks to be sick.
Nothing has changed yet, we are still waiting for them to send the paperwork to the lawyer so that we know what the charge is exactly. They always take their time, it can be quite annoying. I just hope that Adam is resilient enough to deal with it. He seems ok at this point, just low level anxiety. Thanks for checking in 🙂
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