Tania Clarence – sentenced to Hospital Order
In a widely publicised case, Richard Egan represented Tania Clarence in her defence to a charge of murder in connection with the deaths of her three disabled children. Mr Egan represented Mrs Clarence from the time of the initial police station interview and throughout the preparation of the case after being selected by the legal team at Investec Bank (where the husband Garry Clarence works). On the working assumption that Mrs Clarence was suffering from depression at the time of the deaths, one of the most well respected forensic psychiatrists was instructed to assess her mental condition at the police station and throughout the case.
In light of the medical evidence, the defence team offered guilty pleas to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility which were accepted by the Crown – after some months following reports and after assessments made by their own medical experts who eventually agreed with our conclusions.
Following the acceptance of guilty pleas the case was adjourned for sentence where the Crown still pushed for a custodial sentence stating that whilst Tania Clarence’s responsibility was diminished she still held a significant degree of responsibility for her actions based on the history of the case and in view of evidence of pre planning of the killings. They also submitted that Mrs. Clarence’s failure to seek treatment for her illness was also a factor in her culpability! The Defence submitted that her responsibility remained negligible and as such she should not be sentenced to prison but to a hospital order where her illness could be treated. At the sentence hearing two defence doctors gave evidence and lengthy submissions to the Judge on sentence and mitigation, resulting in the Judge agreeing with the defence submissions sentencing Mrs Clarence to a hospital order as requested.
The case was one which involved a number of complex challenges and the resulting hospital order was a significant achievement for Mr Egan and the defence team.
See the family’s statement following the hearing at https://www.tuckerssolicitors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Clarence-Press-FINAL-2.pdf
Press coverage:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30096820
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/18/tania-clarence-sentenced-detained-killing-children
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tania-clarence-sentencing-recap-updates-4647100