The High Court has refused M.P. leave to bring civil proceedings against the Health Service Executive, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and GP Sheila Casey over actions connected with her involuntary detention under the Mental Health Act 2001.
In a judgment delivered on 27 April 2010, Mr Justice John MacMenamin found that the proposed claims, as framed against those defendants, were frivolous and vexatious. He also found no evidence that they or their servants or agents had acted in bad faith or without reasonable care. The court dismissed the application for leave under section 73 of the Act and dismissed the proceedings under its inherent jurisdiction.
M.P. had been admitted to Cavan General Hospital’s psychiatric unit on 3 February 2009, following an application by Garda Sergeant David Burke and a recommendation by Dr Casey. The judgment records that Dr Casey and consultant psychiatrist Dr Vincent Russell raised concerns about her agitation, weight loss and statements about using a knife in response to threats she said she had received.
M.P. alleged, among other things, that officials had mishandled threatening text messages and that she had been mistreated during detention. The defendants denied wrongdoing. The judge said the allegations against them were unsupported by independent evidence. He also noted that M.P. had not established an evidential link between the defendants and people she claimed had sent threatening messages.
A Mental Health Tribunal reviewed the detention on 19 February 2009, found that M.P. met the statutory definition of mental disorder and affirmed the admission order. At a second review on 13 March, the Tribunal revoked her detention because it was not satisfied that continued detention was likely to benefit her or materially alleviate her condition. The judge said the Tribunal made no criticism of the original detention.
The ruling covered acts connected with the Mental Health Act during the period from Dr Casey’s first contact with M.P. on 3 November 2008 to Dr Russell’s last contact on 13 March 2009, including relevant HSE servants or agents. The judge said it would not be proportionate to extend the restriction to other people named in M.P.’s allegations. He did not decide whether she had a cause of action against those other people, or matters relating to childcare proceedings under separate legislation.