Crossing the line: should the threshold for admission of mentally disordered offenders be lowered?

Despite repeated support from central government, the policy of diversion from custody remains at best a partial success. One reason for this may be the conflict between this policy and the move towards community-based mental health services. This paper explores the criteria that might be applied when deciding whether or not to admit a mentally disordered offender to hospital, and the differences between these and the criteria which might apply in a community setting. The authors conclude that there are compelling reasons why the threshold for admission of offender patients should be different from that for non-offender patients, and that the principle of deinstitutionalisation of mental health services should be modified when applied to forensic populations.