/ 16 February 2021

‘Whole community’ fail led to Perth family tragedy

Western Australia’s Supreme Court has found a Perth man not guilty of murdering his 3 family members in 2018 due to ‘unsoundness of mind’. Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said he accepted that 21yo Teancum Petersen-Crofts is not criminally responsible for his mother and 2 siblings’ deaths in a horrendous attack that shocked the nation. Petersen-Crofts suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and multiple attempts to get mental health support were unsuccessful. The night before the murders, he was discharged from hospital despite hearing voices telling him to kill his family, the court heard. Quinlan condemned the shortcomings of the state’s mental health system. “We, the whole community, have failed you,” he said. Petersen-Crofts will continue to be treated in a secure mental health hospital.

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