Transcript
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With VRBoCare, help is always ready before,
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during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so
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support is always available because a great
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trip starts with peace of mind. In episode 216 of Australian True Crime, we heard from Dr. Danny Sullivan, who's the Executive Director of Clinical Services at Thomas Embling Hospital in Melbourne. Thomas Embling is a secure psychiat facility. It's nestled in a leafy bend of the Yarra river on the same spot where the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum was established in 1848, when the area was still part of the colony of New South Wales. There are only two ways to be admitted to thomassembling either under the Mental Health act or under the Crimes Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried Act. Under the Mental Health Act, a person with a severe mental illness who poses a threat to themselves or to others can be admitted for psychiatric treatment compulsorily at Thomas Embling. You'll find only the most challenging of people in that category, including those already in prison who develop severe mental illness or whose existing conditions escalate in that environment. But it's the people admitted under the crimes Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried act, also known as the forensic patients for whom Thomas Embling receives most attention. These are the people who've been sent to the hospital by the court because it's decided they were either mentally impaired at the time they committed an offence or that they have a mental impairment. That means they can't stand trial for an offence. The offences in question are generally violent. Offenders aren't sentenced to set periods of incarceration under the Mental Health Act. They receive treatment under custodial supervision orders, ideally with the benefit of treatment and medication. Their conditions improve and they can apply for leave from the hospital. Some patients have jobs outside and return every night. An if and when staff are satisfied of a patient's recovery, they can be released back into the community. There have obviously been many, many patients who have re entered the community successfully and we've never heard about them again. Unfortunately, though, there have been some notable exceptions. In 2006, the then federal Health Minister Tony Abbott visited Thomas Embley and was punched in the face by a patient as he toured the acute care unit. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the minister laughed off the attack, chuckling to journalists that some people probably thought his attacker had had a sane moment when he swung a punch at him. His attacker that day was a man by the name of Sean Christian Price, who was sent to Thomas Embling after a string of Violent rapes. Nine years after punching Tony Abbott Price murdered teenager Marcia Vukotic in a completely random attack. Ross Konidaris was suffering a psychotic break when he shot his grandparents in 2012 and then set their house on fire. The court found that his psych was induced by drug use, but that he had an underlying diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. And he was placed at the Thomas Emberling Hospital as a forensic patient. In 2019, while on day release, Kanadarris armed himself with a meat cleaver and scissors before attempting several home invasions. He later pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, attempted armed robbery and assault. With all of that said, Dr. Sullivan definitely presents a compelling case in favour of the Thomas Embling Hospital and for the system it represents. But today we hear from David K. David's former best friend, the best man at his wedding is a man by the name of Jonathan Dick. Jonathan is now a forensic patient at the Thomas Embling Hospital. And David presents what I think is a pretty compelling case too. This is Australian true crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created. The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation and a warning. This episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.