Mr Tim Marsh1
1Victorian Bar, Melbourne, Australia
Biography:
Tim Marsh is a criminal barrister with over 20 years' experience in serious crime and forensic mental health. His work at first instance and on appeal has shaped and clarified the law of mental impairment and unfitness in Victoria. Tim was counsel in the 2020 appeal of Brown which saw personality disorders finally recognised as mental illness capable of being considered as mitigation in sentencing.
Since the 17th century, common law jurisdictions have attempted to address the tragic event of mothers killing their children through the enactment of the statutory offence of infanticide, creating an alternative to a murder conviction which would have attracted the death penalty.
Infanticide arouses morbid fascination in the public. Woman who kill are relatively unusual and violence enacted by them challenges cultural stereotypes of female character. The killing of children arouses feelings of horror, outrage and vengefulness. Consequently, infanticide attracts strong media interest and speculation about the character and mental state of the perpetrator. We will explore the role of media in publicising these events, compare representations of men and women who kill children, and consider how responsible reporting might be encouraged.
Typologies of women who kill children blend mental disorder, attachment theory and psychoanalytic hypotheses. The panel will consider how these typologies both reflect and shape public discourse and legal strategy, returning to consider the unique and conflicted features of infanticide both as a charge and as a defence, compared to mental impairment/ insanity and other possible defences or pleas.
The panel will examine the offence of infanticide in Australia, the different implementations between states and the ways in which the offence can – and does – produce unusual or perverse outcomes. The panel will conclude by discussing whether or not infanticide remains relevant in modern law, and whether the defences of mental impairment or diminished responsibility can adequately address the same circumstances.