AS THE academic referred to who is currently researching on the legal implications of the mental state of Peter Manuel, I feel I must correct some inaccuracies in the article 'Experts reject theory that murderer Manuel suffered from brain disorder' (October 5).
The article states: "an exhaustive examination of medical reports compiled by six psychiatrists and other doctors at the time, including a neurologist... all agreed Manuel was a psychopath". This is incorrect in that only one expert was able to cate
gorically state that Manuel was a psychopath. The research I am conducting will, I hope, demonstrate that far from recognising Manuel's psychopathic state, the Scottish Home Department in fact played it down as it was concerned that he would be granted a reprieve.
The second inaccuracy concerns the issue as to whether Manuel suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. While the unsigned medical reports of Dr John Gaylor indicate that the EEGs did not point to classic epilepsy, he did observe increased theta activity. This may point to temporal lobe deficit.
The third inaccuracy concerns the conclusion that Professor Malcolm McLeod and Hector McLeod have shown that Manuel "did not have any mental condition that could have been responsible for his actions". In fact it can be seen that the Scottish Home Department had great concerns about Manuel's mental state, and the medical evidence certainly does not rule out the possibility that Manuel suffered from brain disorder.
Dr Richard Goldberg, reader in law, School of Law, University of Aberdeen The full article contains 255 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
