State of New South Wales v McGorm

Background Matters

1. The following summary of matters related the defendant's background and development, including psychiatric and medical history, is derived from the psychiatric report of Dr Ellis.
2. The defendant is a 26-year-old single Australian man with no dependents. He has been living with his grandmother and grandfather for the past year whilst on release from custody. He is unemployed and collects a "Newstart" benefit.
3. He sees his general practitioner weekly, a psychiatrist at the Wyong Mental Health Service and a psychologist on a monthly basis. He is prescribed olanzapine (antipsychotic medication) 10 mg twice daily, paliperidone (antipsychotic medication) 3 mg in the morning, oxazepam (sedative medication) 15 mg twice daily and methadone (opioid substitution medication) 70 mg daily.
4. As to his background and development, the following may be noted: 1. He was an only child. 2. His parents separated when he was born. He had no contact with his father. He was raised by his mother. 3. He reported a good relationship with his mother to Dr Ellis. However, other reports indicate a tumultuous relationship with his mother. She is report­ed to have used cannabis and had a major mental illness. She died of breast cancer in 2018. 4. He attended school until year 8. He completed year 10 whilst at college. He said he cannot remember school. He reported being admitted to the Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre overnight on one occasion while school age. Other reports note behaviour problems at school, particularly fighting. 5. He had one girlfriend at the time of the offence. He has not had any subsequent relationships. He has had periods of brief employment. He has no formal vocational qualifications.
5. As to the defendant's "psychiatric history", Dr Ellis reported: He reported an admission to the psychiatric hospital at Wyong two months ago. He self-presented with symptoms of gaps in his memory. He was admitted for one week. No documents were available regarding this admission. He started regular prescription of psychotropic medication in prison in 2017 where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had briefly been prescribed the antidepressant sertraline in his teenage years. There are references to a diagnosis of ADHD in childhood through the documents, however no details. He was never treated for ADHD. I note in 2011 he saw a psychiatrist Dr. Scott. He was noted to be at high risk of developing a psychotic illness on the basis of a maternal history of mental illness, and some attenuated psychotic symptoms. He described his time in the violent offender treatment programme. He said it was "all right". He said he was he said that he was hearing voices during the sessions, his thoughts echoed aloud and not on medication. He said he was anxious sitting in the group. He said he was generally worried but did learn to talk about things and "not bottle up emotions". He said that he learned to ask for help. He was noted to participate in a mixed manner, but was considered to have participated satisfactorily. He said that he had completed the equips aggression course. He said that he felt this was "a good course". He said that currently he was engaged in counselling around grief. His mother died whilst he was in hospital recently. He said that his mother's death has affected him badly. It is hard for him to put it in words however he feels upset all the time. He had a screening measure of intelligence in 2015 placing him in the average range. A self-report personality questionnaire in the same year showed elevations on multiple domains of personality dysfunction. There is no history of suicide attempts or self-harm.