EPILEPSY AND CRIME
In the extracts that I have given from prison officials’ reports we
learn that a considerable number of epileptics are detained in prison
as criminals. During 1910-11 the figures for three prisons were as
follows: Liverpool 92; Wakefield 53; and Parkhurst 10. In three prisons
only we had, then, during one year 155 proved epileptics undergoing
imprisonment, ten of whom were sentenced to penal servitude. I call
particular attention to this matter, for it demands attention; 155
unfortunates, for whom out of sheer pity we ought to provide loving
care, were thrust into prison, tabulated as criminals, and compelled to
undergo the wearying monotony of prison life.
Undoubtedly epilepsy produces many serious crimes. This dread
affliction, half physical and half mental, can induce a state of mind
from which not only crimes of violence and of homicidal tendency may be
the result, but crimes of almost any character.
Mental stupor, and sometimes complete aberration, follows or precedes
epileptic seizures. Assaults, wilful damage, attempted murder,
attempted suicide, thefts, indecency and criminal assaults, as well
as murder itself, are quite likely to be committed. I have, in fact,
personally known such crimes committed, some of them repeatedly,
by well-known epileptics. I have been a frequent visitor in houses
where some member of the family was an epileptic. I had, perhaps, met
the sufferer in the cells, or the friends had been to consult the
magistrate, and I had called upon them in consequence. The public
generally have no idea of the extent to which epilepsy prevails. I have
no figures or statistics to give; I do not know whether or not it is on
the increase, though, if I had to give an opinion, I should say it was.
I know it is very common. I know an epileptic is one of the most woeful
objects on earth; I know the anxiety and sorrow of families who have
one such in their homes. I know that many, very many serious crimes
and a world of suffering might be saved if we had registration of, and
proper provision for epileptics.
The provision made for these unfortunates is miserably insufficient.
Their neglect by the State is a national scandal, but it is also a
public danger. People who can pay may have their epileptics cared
for. But the epileptics of the poor are cared for by short periods of
confinement in prison, workhouse or asylum. We have a right to ask for
some large, considerate and humane method of treating epileptics, for a
wise nation would protect them against themselves, and would protect
society against them; and would remove that dreadful anxiety that
depresses so many people who have an epileptic among them: the fear of
“something happening.”
One would think it impossible in these days for a man to be continually
sentenced to imprisonment because he suffers from epilepsy, yet such
is undoubtedly the case. I have no personal knowledge of the 155
epileptics detained in the three prisons I have quoted; but I have
personal knowledge and prolonged experience of many sufferers whom I
have seen sent to prison for offences committed in the throes of their
frightful affliction.
One of the finest fellows, physically, I have ever known was a hopeless
epileptic. He had served with distinction in a famous cavalry regiment
in India; he suffered from sunstroke, and as the affects were serious
and prolonged he was invalided from the Army. He recovered somewhat,
and married, but when children were born to him epilepsy developed. I
have seen the horror that ensued in his home: the fears of his wife,
the terror of his children, but I realised most of all the pitiful
condition of the man himself. Many times I have in his own home taken
part, at some risk to myself, in restraining him from violence, and
when sometimes our efforts have been unavailing, the police have been
called in, and I have seen him conveyed to the police station, and from
there to the police court. When in the dock, standing charged with
violence and assaults, I have seen a fit come upon him, when half a
dozen policemen would be required to straighten him out upon the floor
and to hold him till stupor supervened, when his spell of violence
would give way to insensibility and heavy, stertorous breathing.
I have seen his wife and children standing weeping in the court. Out
of sheer pity I have known a kind and wise magistrate sentence him to
six months’ imprisonment without hard labour: for he felt that for six
months at any rate the man, the wife and children would be protected.
None the less the poor fellow felt the indignity and cruelty of
his position, and whenever committed to prison he never failed to
communicate with the Home Secretary, and petition for release. In the
pigeon-holes of the Home Office I have no doubt many of this man’s
letters and appeals are carefully stored.
But unfortunately when epileptics marry the evil and suffering does
not end with them, for when children are born, they often prove very
strange beings.
I have watched the growth of such children; I have seen their strange
whims and their oft-times irresponsibility. I have known the girls
become hopelessly immoral and cleverly dishonest even at their school
age. One of the cleverest thieves I ever knew was a girl of fourteen,
whose father was an epileptic. She looked the picture of confiding
innocence, but she robbed and cheated all sorts of people: doctors and
clergymen were her special prey.
She was charged repeatedly; no reformatory would receive her, for she
was flagrantly immoral. At sixteen she was a drab and a sleeper-out; at
eighteen she became an inmate of a lunatic asylum, but at twenty her
life came mercifully to an end.
I have watched the progress of boys born to an epileptic mother or
father, and again, they are strange beings. I have not found them to be
the equal of girls in lying or dishonesty, but I have found them to be
idle and shiftless; incapable of giving sustained attention to study or
work; sometimes becoming drunkards and vagrants before the days of full
manhood were reached.
So far as my experience goes, I have not found that the children of an
epileptic suffer from “fits” or manifest seizures. They do not bear
on their bodies the cuts, wounds and bruises that are often found on
the bodies of those who do suffer, but I have found, and certainly my
experience does not stand alone, that they are often irresponsible
creatures possessing strange minds, clever in certain directions and
those directions not for good; capable of serious crime, but never
exhibiting any sorrow, fear or remorse when convicted of any offence.
They generally insist upon their absolute innocence, but go to prison
just as unconcernedly as they would go elsewhere.
Not very long ago a wealthy gentleman wrote to me about his daughter,
a beautiful and accomplished woman of twenty-two. He told me that she
had been in prison and was again in the hands of the police, charged
with fraud. His letter led to an interview; he candidly told me that
his daughter had been untruthful and dishonest for many years, but now
he was ashamed to say that she was grossly immoral.
He had been compelled to remove her from every educational
establishment in which she had been placed, for her lies and dishonesty
could not be tolerated. He had placed her with more than one private
governess, but while she made excellent progress with her studies, and
especially with music, even for liberal payment no one could be found
to give her a home and supervision beyond a very short period.
The grief and shame of both father and mother were apparent; their
daughter being in the hands of the police, they knew that I could not
save her; but they wanted some hope and some guidance for the future.
“Can nothing be done?” they repeatedly asked. I could give them but
little comfort; I dared not create hope, for I had learned during our
conversation that the mother herself suffered at intervals, sometimes
longer and sometimes shorter, from epileptic “fits.” In my heart I felt
sure that this was the real cause of the daughter’s strange behaviour;
I did not, however, add to their sorrow by telling them what I thought.
My experience of epileptics has been much larger than the ordinary run
of my life would lead any one to imagine, for outside my police court
and prison experience I have had frequent opportunities for gaining
knowledge and forming judgment. Probably few men have a more varied
post-bag than myself; rightly or wrongly, large numbers of people
believe that I can give them advice or help in family and other matters.
So all sorts of difficulties and sorrows are placed before me. But most
of my correspondents consult me about some member of their family who
is at once their despair and shame. Under such circumstances, I have
always been ready to give such guidance and comfort as was possible.
But being of inquiring mind, I always wanted to know the cause of the
evil and sorrow. So I made inquiries regarding family history, etc.,
and was often brought face to face with the fact that father or mother,
sometimes grandfather or grandmother, suffered from “fits.”
Some years ago, after writing in the daily press upon the dangers
of epilepsy, I received a large number of letters from friends of
epileptics. Every post brought me letters which came from various parts
of the country.
Most of my correspondents were in good financial positions, but their
letters formed pitiful reading. A more dolorous collection it would be
impossible to imagine. But they taught me a great deal, for I realised
that this terrible affliction prevailed to a greater extent than I
had dreamt of. I realised how respectable people cover and hide the
fact of epilepsy as long as possible, and that when the fact can be no
longer hidden they cower with shame, as if their sorrow was in itself
a disgrace and a scandal. I had ample confirmation in those dolorous
letters that not only pain, suffering, injury and hopelessness dwelt
in the home of an epileptic; but also that shame, crime, imprisonment,
strange actions and more than strange minds were some of the resultant
effects. I need not dilate upon the danger to the public when large
numbers of persons suffering from this malady are at liberty amongst
them, for epileptic seizures may occur at any place and at any time.
In a crowded street, or on a busy railway platform they might easily
be attended with disaster. To any one who thinks upon this matter
the danger will be apparent. But the dangers arising from the many
individuals who have inherited a dread birthright, because they are
born of epileptic parentage, are not so readily seen. None the less,
those dangers are real and tangible, and I verily believe that if the
truth could be ascertained regarding the large number of motiveless
crimes for which the perpetrators have not been brought to justice, it
would be found that very largely they were the outcome of epilepsy.
I take the following from the daily press of November 11, 1911—
“Murderer’s Lost Memory
“Unconscious of Crime for Four Days
“Strange Defence.
“Complete loss of memory was the unavailing defence at Nottingham
yesterday, when Victor Chapman, a smart young ex-Lancer, was sentenced
to death for the murder of Ralph Hill, whom he had shot in the
Market-Place.
“Giving evidence on his own behalf prisoner declared that from nine
o’clock on the morning of the crime, till he found himself at Divine
Service in gaol four days later, he had not the faintest recollection
of what had happened to him. He denied that he had the slightest
desire to harm Hill, or that he had threatened him. Prisoner further
stated he had a similar seizure last Whitsuntide.
“He left work at Nottingham at midday, and the next thing he
remembered was looking at the Corn Exchange at Grimsby. He had no
money, and walked back to Nottingham, reaching home three days later,
exhausted and with bleeding feet.
“Nor could he recollect that two days prior to the crime (as a witness
had sworn) he went to the river side, fired a shot into the air,
and declared that he was going to shoot Hill and his (prisoner’s)
sweetheart.
“Dr. Owen Taylor, police surgeon, said when arrested prisoner had a
strange expression, and appeared utterly indifferent to everything
going on around him. “He betrayed no excitement, and during the whole
of the time witness questioned him he stared witness straight in the
face with a fixed and vacant expression.”
“Two days later his condition vastly improved, he answered more
quickly and brightly, and knew that he was accused of murder.
“Witness tested him in every possible way, but he had not the
slightest remembrance of anything that happened on the fateful day.
“Pressed by the Judge to give an opinion, witness said it was possible
that while suffering from an epileptic seizure, prisoner did not know
what he was doing.
“The jury found prisoner guilty, and sentence of death was passed.”
Instances similar to the above can easily be multiplied, but I content
myself with one more case of recent date. The following appeared in the
daily press of November 15, 1911—
“In charging the Grand Jury at the Stafford assizes yesterday,
Mr. Justice Pickford referred to the case of Karl Kramer, who was
arraigned for the triple murder at Kidsgrove. His Lordship pointed out
that during the magisterial inquiry there seemed to be considerable
doubt as to prisoner’s sanity, and the magistrates adjourned the case
_sine die_. A verdict of “Wilful Murder” was returned against him
by the Coroner’s Jury, and he did not think the jury would have any
hesitation in finding that there was a prima facie case against the
prisoner. When, later, Kramer was carried into court, he seemed in a
state of collapse.
“Sir Richard Brayn, Home Office expert, in his evidence, said he
examined the prisoner in Stafford Gaol on September 28. Questions were
put to him, but no response could be elicited. Kramer’s body and head
were bent forward, and the only movement was a twitching of his right
forefinger. He was in a state of rigidity the whole time.
“He had examined Kramer several times since, and had applied a test as
to his sensibility, but the results were entirely negative. He formed
the opinion that the prisoner was quite incapable of exercising his
mental faculties in any way.
“Dr. Smith, medical officer at Stafford Prison, confirmed Sir Richard
Brayn’s evidence.
“The Judge: ‘I suppose you both looked carefully to see if the
prisoner was shamming?’ ‘Oh, yes, I am entirely of the opinion that he
was not shamming.’
“Kramer was found to be insane, and was ordered to be detained during
his Majesty’s Pleasure.”
In addition to epileptics and the insane there exists a number
of people, male and female, who present to those who know them a
more pitiful and hopeless problem than the altogether mad, for the
altogether mad are at any rate restrained and protected.
The men and women of whom I now speak suffer from some kind of mental
disease that has not yet been classified, but which prevails to a much
larger extent than the public is aware.
This disease does not prevent them following their ordinary
occupations. Indeed, many of them are regular and indomitable
workers, and it is probable that the great interest they have in
their occupations prevents them becoming certifiably insane. Such men
and women continue for years at their places of business or in their
situations, conducting their affairs in an efficient manner; to their
companions they appear quiet and decent people, though a little sombre.
But very different is the impression produced on those who
unfortunately know them at home! Released from the engrossing interest
of business, their mental and moral condition becomes apparent. Of all
the sorrow and misery that I have seen in the sorrowful world in which
I have lived and moved, I have seen no more woeful spectacle than the
sight they present—objects at once pathetic, terrifying and hopeless.
While all sorts of imaginings occupy their minds, some great delusion
seems to dominate them and to destroy every atom of home comfort. Place
them under authority, surround them with medical officers, question
them and cross-question them, examine them and re-examine them, watch
them unceasingly and they defy every member of the faculty to find
traces of insanity.
Under such circumstances they can control their thoughts and speech; to
a certain extent they can make the worst appear the better reason.
Only at liberty, when free of all control, is their condition made
manifest. Sometimes they appear to have a feeling that mentally all
is not quite right with them, but this feeling is but momentary, and
soon disappears in the overmastering belief in the altogether imaginary
wrongs they suffer at the hands of their friends.
I have known a not inconsiderable number of such men, and I have been
worried for years with the imaginary troubles of such women. Argument
is of no avail, no amount of proof convinces them of their error. Years
go on, during which they hug their delusion and terrify their families
and friends. Sometimes the delusion appears but a little harmless
eccentricity, nevertheless it dominates and damns the man’s domestic
life. At other times the grievance is more serious, often taking shape
in the belief of a faithful and devoted wife’s infidelity. The horror
and suffering in an otherwise good home, when this delusion is the
master-belief of a husband and father, cannot be portrayed, for it is
past the power of words. I have seen it again and again, and have felt
my impotence when I tried to comfort and protect the innocent wife, and
still more when I have tried to argue with and dissuade the husband.
The behaviour of such men is both maddening and heart-breaking;
sometimes it continues for years, and the home gradually becomes a
hopeless hell. Sometimes when a spell of passion and violence has been
particularly exhaustive, I have known it followed with a period of
almost stupor, forgetfulness and absolute irresponsibility. Crimes of
violence, suicide or attempted suicide sometimes result. In the latter
case the law has no scruple in doing what ought to have been done
years before, for then it proclaims the man’s irresponsibility. It is,
however, but cold comfort to the wife or friends to find the law, which
had refused to acknowledge the man’s irresponsibility while he lived,
so ready to proclaim it when he was dead, for the fact might with some
advantage have been discovered much sooner.
I have said that sometimes in a lucid moment the possibility of
becoming insane dawns upon them; when it does, their horror is great
and their suffering intense.
I have sat beside such men as they lay in bed, I have watched the
expression on their faces, and I have listened to heavy breathing,
for words they had none. I have seen them rise from bed in a state of
stupor and do some foolish or childish thing. I have been ignored as
if I were not present, and I have been made aware of the strange fact
that maddening excitement had been followed by the suspension of mental
faculties. I have known men in this condition wander from home into
the streets, where a special Providence seemed to care for them and
protect them from serious accident. Frequently men of this description
are arrested by the police and charged with violence or disorderly
conduct. Sometimes the magistrate, noticing their strange behaviour,
remands them and asks the medical officer at the prison to examine and
report upon them. Invariably the report is to the effect that the
prisoners have shown no indication of insanity. The detention during
remand is generally considered sufficient punishment, but an admonition
from the Bench on the evils of drink very often precedes the prisoner’s
discharge.
Back to their homes they go, confirmed in their delusions and made
more bitter by their arrest and detention. Especially is this the case
when a long-suffering wife has herself appealed to the police for
protection. It is small wonder that some of these unfortunate men are
eventually executed for wife murder.