Flatmate may be alive if there had been an inpatient bed available for mentally-ill man – judge

On January 13 a doctor told the Hawke’s Bay mental health services that Timothy Buchanan, who had paranoid schizophrenia and was refusing to take his medication, would be best placed in the mental health unit.

But there were no beds available, so Buchanan was turned away.

The following evening he killed Colin Blithe, a kind and considerate man, who was the property manager and lived in the same shared accommodation as Buchanan.

In the week prior to his death, Blithe had become increasingly concerned about Buchanan and had called the mental health team seeking assistance.

Buchanan, 34, was charged with murder of Blithe, 68, but found not guilty by reason of insanity.

He appeared in the High Court at Napier on Tuesday for a dispositions hearing before Justice Cheryl Gwyn.

Gwyn heard emotional victim impact statements read by Blithe’s daughter, sister and nieces.

They painted a picture of a kind, humorous, attentive man with a reputation for enjoying helping others.

Blithe’s daughter Christina said he would “go out of his way not only for family and friends but anyone who needed it”.

“He’d never ask for anything in return and would offer to take the shirt off his back for anyone who needed it. He’d often strike up random conversations with anyone who would listen, and when he was done would have them in fits of laughter,” she said.

“This is exactly how we’ve ended up here today. Because of Dad’s selfless act of kindness towards you, a complete stranger at the time, I’m now sitting here in front of you, wishing my Dad had never met you,” she told Buchanan, who appeared via video link from hospital.

Blithe’s niece Heidi Boyer said she was aware of the barriers to accessing mental health care in New Zealand and the apparent lack of funding and trained staff for the increasing demand.

“I’m struggling to understand how and why my uncle’s life was so brutally taken after he was trying to support someone who was undergoing mental health episodes,” she said.

Boyer said the day prior to Blithe’s death, Buchanan had been assessed by a doctor as being psychotic and refusing to take his medication and that he would benefit from admission to the mental health inpatient unit.

“However, there were no beds available. I find this absolutely outrageous. The Hawke’s Bay mental health team have failed. They have failed my uncle, they have failed his family, and they have failed the defendant,” Boyer said.

“I am ashamed of our mental health department,” she said.

Buchanan had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and in 2009 became subject to a community treatment order. That order became indefinite in 2014.

Justice Gwyn said she wanted to acknowledge, as Blithe’s family had, that “the truly awful event” that occurred on January 14 “may have been prevented if a bed had been available” at the mental health inpatient unit.

Gwyn made an order requiring Buchanan to be detained in hospital as a special patient under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

This was the appropriate sentence as it protected the public from further offending by Buchanan and ensured he would be managed and treated in manner best calculated to achieve the goals of rehabilitation and reintegration, she said.

Crown prosecutor Steve Manning and Buchanan’s lawyer Matthew Phelps agreed that the order was the appropriate outcome.

The summary of facts stated that Blithe died as a result of strangulation and trauma to his neck.

When Buchanan was spoken to by police after the incident he said he had got into a fight with Blithe after an argument over being evicted from the flat. He said that he felt Blithe was trying to control him, and told police he strangled Blithe with a choke hold around his neck from behind.

He said that he applied the choke hold on and off around the victim’s neck for approximately 15 minutes. He said he released the hold and Blithe started to regain consciousness, so he reapplied the choke hold until he died.

After killing Blithe he took his bank card and a painting off his wall.

He told police he felt a sense of victory.

Where to get help

• 1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor.

• Anxiety New Zealand 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)

• Depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202

• Lifeline 0800 543 354

• Rural Support Trust 0800 787 254

• Samaritans 0800 726 666

• Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

• Yellow Brick Road 0800 732 825

• thelowdown.co.nz Web chat, email chat or free text 5626

• What’s Up 0800 942 8787 (for 5 to 18-year-olds). Phone counselling available Monday-Friday, noon-11pm and weekends, 3pm-11pm. Online chat is available 3pm-10pm daily.

• Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz, or find online chat and other support options here.

• If it is an emergency, click here to find the number for your local crisis assessment team.

• In a life-threatening situation, call 111.