Unfounded connection

Published on Sunday 24 February 2008 20:27

Your coverage of the case of Ipswich killer Steve Wright includes comments from an interview on the BBC's News with Keith Ashcroft of the Centre for Forensic Neuroscience in Manchester (your report, 22 February). He speculated that Wright's behaviour of frequenting prostitutes and attempted suicide suggested that he had "manic depressive illness".

I can find no reference to a diagnosis of a mental disorder in any of the coverage of this case. Dr Ashcroft's speculation is therefore unfounded, unprofessional and likely to fuel the stigma attached to mental illness.

Steve Wright is a high-profile serial killer. It is natural for us to try to make sense of his behaviour. The media should however be extremely cautious in seeking comment from a mental health professional with no inside knowledge of the case. To conclude, as Dr Ashcroft did, that Wright's behaviour was typical of someone with a "manic depressive illness" (bipolar disorder) is grossly offensive to people with this diagnosis and likely to reinforce public misconceptions about violence and mental ill-health.

LINDA M DUNION

John Street

Cellardyke, Fife