Inside the mind of a murderer: the power and limits of forensic psychiatry

When I was called in to assess Seb, I needed to understand why he had committed such a horrendous crime. But first I had to get him to talk

Even before Seb had arrived at the prison, five weeks before my first visit, the staff had received a notification that he ought to be subject to close monitoring. While still in police custody, an out-of-hours forensic psychiatric assessment had been requested.

Seb had been compliant with the arresting officers, but he had given the impression that he was unconcerned by what had happened - it seemed as though he didn't mind at all that he was being arrested. More bizarrely, there were flickers of apparent self-satisfaction. Seb had been arrested on suspicion of murdering his mother.