Why was the Copenhagen Field's shooter sentenced to psychiatric care?
The 23-year-old man who opened fire in a busy shopping centre in Copenhagen last year, killing three and injuring dozens, was sentenced to a secure psychiatric unit on Wednesday. Why a psychiatric unit and not a prison sentence?
What was his sentence?
The man was found guilty on all counts, including three murders, 11 attempted murders against specific individuals, and attempted murder by shooting at a group of around 20 people who were running away from him.
This would be enough for a lifetime prison sentence, which are often handed out to perpetrators of particularly serious murders or double murders.
However, due to his mental state both during and after the event, which has been assessed by psychiatrists, he has been considered utilregnelig på grund af singssygdom, roughly translating as "unaccountable due to a mental illness", meaning that he cannot be given a punishment under Danish law.
He was instead sentenced to forvaring or "indefinite detention", as he is still considered too dangerous to be allowed to go free.
Does this mean he's getting off lightly?
No. Forvaring is one of the harshest sentences available in Denmark, and is, along with a life sentence, the only kind of sentence which can be given which does not have a fixed end date.
In order to qualify for forvaring, a suspect needs to fulfil three requirements: kriminalitetskravet or the criminality requirement, which means that they have been found guilty of a serious crime like murder, brutal violence or rape.
The second is farlighedskravet, or the danger requirement, meaning that the suspect represents a threat to others. This is usually assessed based on the character of the crime and any information about the suspect, including whether or not they have committed a crime before.
The final requirement is nødvendighedskravet, or the requirement of necessity, which is fulfilled if the courts deem it necessary for the suspect to be sentenced to indefinite detention, to ensure the safety of others and to prevent them from reoffending.
When will the Field's shooter be released?
There is no official end date on a forvaring sentence, although the courts will reassess the suspect's case after five years, and then every other year after that, until they deem that it is no longer necessary for the suspect to be detained.
Between 1990 and 2011, the average length of a forvaring sentence was 14 years and 7 months. To put that into context, the average length of a life sentence in Denmark is around 16 years.
Has this come as a surprise?
No, not really.
Defence lawyer Luise Høj and special prosecutor Søren Harbo, as well as experts who have assessed the man's mental state, all agree that the man was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crime.
Harbo recommended that the man be sentenced to forvaring at the secure Sikringen psychiatric facility in Slagelse to the court, which is the sentence he has been given.
"Now he has been assigned to the entirely correct place, and that's important, as the accused will be given the treatment he needs, and not least there are security measures in place there which will make sure that this will not happen again," he told Danish newswire Ritzau.
Høj, the man's defence lawyer, believes however that he should not have been assigned to Sikringen, a forensic psychiatric facility, but rather a standard psychiatric hospital.
"If it's the case that he needs to be in the Sikringen facility, then it's striking that he is not there already," she said at a previous court hearing, referring to the fact that the man has been held at a lower-security psychiatric hospital for the past year while awaiting trial.
Is he going to appeal?
Maybe, but it's not yet certain.
After the sentence was announced, Høj requested a consideration period on behalf of her client, saying to press outside the courtroom that this would be used to consider his next steps.
"First, we need to get a copy of [the sentencing order], and then we're going to go home and read it, and consider what could reasonably be done," she said.
Given the fact that Høj agrees that her client is mentally ill and requires treatment, it is likely that any appeal would be around his placement in Sikringen, with Høj arguing instead that he should be placed at a lower-security hospital rather than a forensic psychiatric facility.
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What was his sentence?
The man was found guilty on all counts, including three murders, 11 attempted murders against specific individuals, and attempted murder by shooting at a group of around 20 people who were running away from him.
This would be enough for a lifetime prison sentence, which are often handed out to perpetrators of particularly serious murders or double murders.
However, due to his mental state both during and after the event, which has been assessed by psychiatrists, he has been considered utilregnelig på grund af singssygdom, roughly translating as "unaccountable due to a mental illness", meaning that he cannot be given a punishment under Danish law.
He was instead sentenced to forvaring or "indefinite detention", as he is still considered too dangerous to be allowed to go free.
Does this mean he's getting off lightly?
No. Forvaring is one of the harshest sentences available in Denmark, and is, along with a life sentence, the only kind of sentence which can be given which does not have a fixed end date.
In order to qualify for forvaring, a suspect needs to fulfil three requirements: kriminalitetskravet or the criminality requirement, which means that they have been found guilty of a serious crime like murder, brutal violence or rape.
The second is farlighedskravet, or the danger requirement, meaning that the suspect represents a threat to others. This is usually assessed based on the character of the crime and any information about the suspect, including whether or not they have committed a crime before.
The final requirement is nødvendighedskravet, or the requirement of necessity, which is fulfilled if the courts deem it necessary for the suspect to be sentenced to indefinite detention, to ensure the safety of others and to prevent them from reoffending.
When will the Field's shooter be released?
There is no official end date on a forvaring sentence, although the courts will reassess the suspect's case after five years, and then every other year after that, until they deem that it is no longer necessary for the suspect to be detained.
Between 1990 and 2011, the average length of a forvaring sentence was 14 years and 7 months. To put that into context, the average length of a life sentence in Denmark is around 16 years.
Has this come as a surprise?
No, not really.
Defence lawyer Luise Høj and special prosecutor Søren Harbo, as well as experts who have assessed the man's mental state, all agree that the man was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crime.
Harbo recommended that the man be sentenced to forvaring at the secure Sikringen psychiatric facility in Slagelse to the court, which is the sentence he has been given.
"Now he has been assigned to the entirely correct place, and that's important, as the accused will be given the treatment he needs, and not least there are security measures in place there which will make sure that this will not happen again," he told Danish newswire Ritzau.
Høj, the man's defence lawyer, believes however that he should not have been assigned to Sikringen, a forensic psychiatric facility, but rather a standard psychiatric hospital.
"If it's the case that he needs to be in the Sikringen facility, then it's striking that he is not there already," she said at a previous court hearing, referring to the fact that the man has been held at a lower-security psychiatric hospital for the past year while awaiting trial.
Is he going to appeal?
Maybe, but it's not yet certain.
After the sentence was announced, Høj requested a consideration period on behalf of her client, saying to press outside the courtroom that this would be used to consider his next steps.
"First, we need to get a copy of [the sentencing order], and then we're going to go home and read it, and consider what could reasonably be done," she said.
Given the fact that Høj agrees that her client is mentally ill and requires treatment, it is likely that any appeal would be around his placement in Sikringen, with Høj arguing instead that he should be placed at a lower-security hospital rather than a forensic psychiatric facility.
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