Mishaps in psychiatric institutions
Fires, fraud and fury: It all happens at psychiatric institutions throughout the Netherlands. Once in a while a patient will escape and, normally, this news will only be covered on page five of the newspapers. Unless, of course, this patient creates chaos and mayhem during his time out. Even more serious are the fires that occasionally break out in these institutions. One such incident happened on 12 March. Three people died after a fire broke out at a psychiatric institution at the Kasteellaan in Oegstgeest. Five other people were taken to the hospital for treatment.
This fire started on the backside of one of the buildings of the Leidse GGZ, where elderly people with psychiatric disorders reside. A number of the patients' bedrooms were completely destroyed. The fire department extinguished the blaze and ambulances helped evacuate the residents. The patients who could not return to their own room were evacuated and given another place to stay.
In another fire at the Jan Wierhof institution in Tilburg in January, a 28-year-old patient passed away. He had started the fire himself in his room, just one day after he was put in this institution against his will. A move that was taken after he set fire to his own house. The latest institution fire occurred at the Valeriusplein in Amsterdam. This fire was also started in a patient’s bedroom, though it was not made public how this could be possible. When the staff tried to extinguish the fire, they suffered respiratory difficulties and they could not succeed in their efforts. Firemen who were called to the premises had better luck however, they could not prevent the heavy smoke development. In the end, three people, including two employees, were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The psychiatric institution Parnassia Bavo Groep was faced with entirely different problems, it was revealed in May. In 2008, a conman stole 2.8 million euros from the bank account of the institution and transferred the sum to other accounts. The fraud was only discovered when a 25-year-old temp, Zaniera B., was found to have booked a number of fake invoices into Parnassia's computer systems. Her lawyer claims that B. has been the victim of a case of mistaken identity. The Public Prosecutor denies that the woman took the funds herself, and neither does the institution. . “We don’t suspect her to have received the money,” a spokesperson said. Yet, all the bookings were made in the course of six months and transferred to accounts of non-existing creditors of fake companies. Soon after, the money was removed from these accounts and deposited into other bank accounts. It took the Public Prosecutor two years to investigate the matter thoroughly.
TBS stands for ‘Terbeschikkingstelling van de staat’ (put in the hands of the state) and can be imposed upon by a judge. This is done with convicts who have committed crimes which are punishable for at least four years imprisonment. However, the judge should be convinced that, at the time of the crime, the person committing the crime suffered an inadequate development or sick disturbance of the mental state of mind.
Despite this, Parnassia says that the fraud was discovered reasonably fast. “The total amount was rather limited; it could have been much worse. We check the transfers strictly and the fraud could occur because adaptations in the software program have been executed,”said the spokesperson. In June, news came out that Dusan van R., a 46-year-old patient at tbs-clinic Veldzicht had been illegally incarcerated for more than 18 years.
Van R. was labeled schizophrenic and drug addict who shoplifted and mistreated two women. He was put in the institution in 1989, but should have been released after four years. That would be the maximum prison term for the crimes that he had committed. Nevertheless, over the course of his stay, the tbs-term was prolonged over and over again. At least 30 judges and 10 district attorneys ruled that this was necessary due to his psycho pathological disturbances and progressive dementia. However, in June a court ruled that these extensions were “unjustified.”Although R.'s dementia prevents him from living on his own, he is expected to be released from the Veldzicht institution.
This fire started on the backside of one of the buildings of the Leidse GGZ, where elderly people with psychiatric disorders reside. A number of the patients' bedrooms were completely destroyed. The fire department extinguished the blaze and ambulances helped evacuate the residents. The patients who could not return to their own room were evacuated and given another place to stay.
In another fire at the Jan Wierhof institution in Tilburg in January, a 28-year-old patient passed away. He had started the fire himself in his room, just one day after he was put in this institution against his will. A move that was taken after he set fire to his own house. The latest institution fire occurred at the Valeriusplein in Amsterdam. This fire was also started in a patient’s bedroom, though it was not made public how this could be possible. When the staff tried to extinguish the fire, they suffered respiratory difficulties and they could not succeed in their efforts. Firemen who were called to the premises had better luck however, they could not prevent the heavy smoke development. In the end, three people, including two employees, were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The psychiatric institution Parnassia Bavo Groep was faced with entirely different problems, it was revealed in May. In 2008, a conman stole 2.8 million euros from the bank account of the institution and transferred the sum to other accounts. The fraud was only discovered when a 25-year-old temp, Zaniera B., was found to have booked a number of fake invoices into Parnassia's computer systems. Her lawyer claims that B. has been the victim of a case of mistaken identity. The Public Prosecutor denies that the woman took the funds herself, and neither does the institution. . “We don’t suspect her to have received the money,” a spokesperson said. Yet, all the bookings were made in the course of six months and transferred to accounts of non-existing creditors of fake companies. Soon after, the money was removed from these accounts and deposited into other bank accounts. It took the Public Prosecutor two years to investigate the matter thoroughly.
TBS stands for ‘Terbeschikkingstelling van de staat’ (put in the hands of the state) and can be imposed upon by a judge. This is done with convicts who have committed crimes which are punishable for at least four years imprisonment. However, the judge should be convinced that, at the time of the crime, the person committing the crime suffered an inadequate development or sick disturbance of the mental state of mind.
Despite this, Parnassia says that the fraud was discovered reasonably fast. “The total amount was rather limited; it could have been much worse. We check the transfers strictly and the fraud could occur because adaptations in the software program have been executed,”said the spokesperson. In June, news came out that Dusan van R., a 46-year-old patient at tbs-clinic Veldzicht had been illegally incarcerated for more than 18 years.
Van R. was labeled schizophrenic and drug addict who shoplifted and mistreated two women. He was put in the institution in 1989, but should have been released after four years. That would be the maximum prison term for the crimes that he had committed. Nevertheless, over the course of his stay, the tbs-term was prolonged over and over again. At least 30 judges and 10 district attorneys ruled that this was necessary due to his psycho pathological disturbances and progressive dementia. However, in June a court ruled that these extensions were “unjustified.”Although R.'s dementia prevents him from living on his own, he is expected to be released from the Veldzicht institution.
posted by Joep J.B. Derksen @ 9:03 a.m.
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