A mentally ill alleged robber has been released into community care despite being described as a long-term risk of violence and possibly murder if he stops taking his medication.
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And the ACT Government might now not proceed with delayed plans for a secure forensic mental health facility, after more spots in NSW centres became available.
The man, whom The Canberra Times has decided not to name, was bailed earlier this week after spending four months in the psychiatric services unit of the Canberra Hospital.
His release came after a psychiatrist suggested locking him up at the Alexander Maconochie Centre would be extremely detrimental to his fragile mental state, and he could be appropriately cared for in the community.
His lawyer, David Claxton, told the ACT Magistrates Court his client needed longer-term care, but the hospital's psychiatric ward was better suited for shorter-term treatment.
Mental health workers will assess the man twice each week, and he will be readmitted to hospital or sent to a long-term facility in NSW if he slips back into drug use or stops taking his medication.
Plans for Canberra's own secure mental health facility were put on hold earlier this year when the construction price tag blew out to $30 million.
The project might not now go ahead, as the ACT Government weighs up whether such a facility is viable and necessary as more resources come online in NSW.
The Health Directorate said the need for such a facility was under review, and there was a very low level of demand in Canberra.
But it is waiting on a peer review of the construction costs from NSW Health Infrastructure services, with a draft report due this month.
The accused man was arrested in May after allegedly forcing a woman to withdraw $20 from an ATM at the Erindale shops and hand the money over. He then gave her back about $5 in loose change.
Mr Claxton suggested his 32-year-old client should be bailed with conditions to stay at the hospital while the public advocate was brought up to speed on the situation. But Magistrate Peter Dingwall agreed to release the man on bail to a public housing residence in Canberra's south on the proviso he remained under the watch of mental health authorities.
''It would clearly be, in my view, extremely counter-productive for his mental health to be put in the [Alexander Maconochie Centre],'' the magistrate said.
Lawyers on both sides expressed concern about a psychiatric assessment which suggested the man posed a longer-term risk to others.
''[The man] is a high longer-term risk of violence [to] others; this violence may take the form of assault with or without a weapon, verbal abuse, and may reach as far as a risk of murder,'' the psychiatrist wrote.
But the author went on to note the risk was currently low ''in the immediate future'' because he had been in a protective environment, his mental state was stable, he was drug-free and taking his medication.
The alleged offender has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, for which he is being treated with five different types of medication. He is currently on a psychiatric treatment order.