A report by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH) has suggested that the number of homicides by people with a mental illness in England and Wales not in care has increased between 1997 and 2005.
The report found that the rise in homicides “occurred in people who are not under mental health care and was not found in mental health patients.”
However, figures reported recently in the British Journal of Psychiatry (BJP) journal suggested that in 2004 there were less than 20 homicides in England and Wales by people with a mental illness, the lowest figure since the 1950s.
To read the NCISH report, go to: http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/suicide/prevention/nci/inquiryannualreports/AnnualReportJuly2009.pdf
To read the BJP article go to: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/pdf_extract/194/2/185-b