Dr Russ Scott1
1West Moreton Mental Health Service, , Australia
Biography:
As the first forensic psychiatrist accredited by the RANZCP, Russ Scott has been a consultant psychiatrist to community forensic outreach services and acute inpatient units at Thomas Embling Hospital, Melbourne and the High Security Inpatient Services at The Park – Centre for Mental Health, Wacol. He is a past president of both the Medico-Legal Society of Queensland and ANZAPPL (Qld). In 2023 he was appointed Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of Queensland and he is the medical issues section sub-editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine. He is currently employed by the West Moreton mental health service.
Abstract:
Joel Cauchi was aged 17 when he had his first inpatient treatment in Toowoomba between 26 January – 23 February 2001. He was diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder and commenced on oral olanzapine. From mid-2002 his diagnosis was changed to schizophrenia and he was trialled on oral risperidone. Between 1 – 15 October 2002 Cauchi had his second inpatient treatment and was commenced on clozapine. In March 2012 the Darling Downs community mental health service discharged Cauchi to the care of a private psychiatrist. From 2015 Cauchi was slowly weaned from clozapine and in June 2018 the clozapine was ceased. In November 2019 Cauchi’s mother first began raising concerns about a possible relapse of her son’s psychosis. In January 2023 Cauchi complained to police that his father had stolen his military knives. When police attended the residence, both parents reported that Cauchi was unwell, unmedicated and needed treatment for his mental illness. In July 2023, after he left Queensland, Cauchi had a brief interaction with NSW Police when he was found sleeping ‘rough’ in a Sydney suburb. Although police checks revealed that Cauchi had a warning in Queensland in relation to ‘knives, mental health and self-harm,’ a search of his belongings found no knives. On the morning of 13 April 2024, Cauchi had been homeless and sleeping near the beach at Maroubra when he went by bus to a storage facility in Waterloo where he put a large military knife in his backpack before taking the train to Bondi Junction.