Jo Cox Murder Suspect Gives His Name As ‘Death To Traitors, Freedom For Britain’

[Ken Burch]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jo-cox-murder-suspect_us_57653d70e4b015db1bc98d1e?section=

Wearing a grey sweat shirt and trousers and flanked by two security guards, 52-year-old Thomas Mair was asked his name by a clerk at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

“Death to traitors, freedom for Britain,” Mair said. When asked again what his name was, Mair calmly repeated: “My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”

“Bearing in mind the name he has just given, he ought to be seen by a psychiatrist,” Deputy Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot told the court.

Does the UK have anything like an "insanity plea"? I'm thinking this bastard may be trying to set that up as an out.

[Denzil_DC]

1. Whatever else he is, he does seem to have been troubled in the long term.

Jo Cox murder: Thomas Mair asked for mental health treatment day before MP died

The man accused of murdering Jo Cox sought help for his mental health problems the night before she was killed - but was told to make an appointment and come back the next day.

The disclosure comes as it emerged that Thomas Mair had allegedly bought a number of manuals from an extremist group in the US, which explained how to construct a home-made gun and munitions. There were also reports that police had found ‘Nazi regalia’ at his home.

Mr Mair, 52, visited an alternative therapy centre in Birstall on Wednesday evening, the night before Mrs Cox was killed, where he explained he wanted treatment for depression.

The owner of the Birstall Wellbeing Centre told Mr Mair to return the next day for an appointment but he never went back.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/17/jo-cox-murder-thomas-mair-asked-for-mental-health-treatment-day/

To answer your question, yes, that is a possible plea. One of the first things that will happen is a court-ordered psychiatric assessment to ascertain whether he's fit to stand trial. Given the well-publicized facts of the case and Mair's performance in his first court appearance, even if that's the defence he ends up relying on, it would likely just be a one-way ticket to incarceration in a secure institution for as long as successive Home Secretaries see fit, quite possibly the rest of his life if he's still considered a threat to the public.

There's also the possibility of a plea of diminished responsibility. The outcome would likely be the same.

[Ken Burch]

2. Thank you for the information. n/t.

[Denzil_DC]

3. You're welcome.

A grim irony is that for plain murder (leaving aside any potential terrorism angle for now), Mair could be at large again within a decade. With an insanity plea, he might never be released. So I guess the answer to your original question depends on how much he values his freedom.

[Ken Burch]

4. That adds yet another level of weirdness to the whole thing. n/t.

[Denzil_DC]

5. I think maybe one key difference here between US and UK perceptions

of this sort of situation is that the UK doesn't have the death penalty. If it did, it might make your initial suspicion more likely.

[Ken Burch]

6. Excellent point. n/t.