Citation

Gunn J, Fenton GW. Lancet 1971; 297(7710): 1173-1176.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1971, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(71)91676-X

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Epilepsy is often considered a possible medical defence against violent crimes. This paper reports the findings from a national survey of epileptic prisoners and a total survey of epileptic patients at Broadmoor Hospital. The cases of 4 prisoners who had had epileptic fits just before committing a crime, 5 prisoners who had fits just after committing a crime, and 4 other cases in which a possible association could be considered between a crime and automatism were reviewed. None showed convincing evidence of automatic criminal behaviour. The 32 epileptic patients in Broadmoor Hospital were there because of violent crimes or behaviour, and 2 men had probably committed their violent crime as part of the ictal process from which they suffered. It is concluded that automatic behaviour is a rare explanation for the crimes of epileptic patients, and the excess prevalence of epilepsy discovered in the prison population cannot be explained this way.