The Serious Offences Court has summoned senior officials of the Ministry of Health to explain the continued delay in producing a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, even as the government continues its efforts to secure a psychiatrist.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has been without a resident psychiatrist for about a decade.
On Monday, Chief Magistrate Colin John indicated that he wants at least two senior health officials, including the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and the head of Mental Health Services, Alisa Alvis, to appear before the court during the first week of July to provide an update on the status of a psychiatric report on patient Kesroy Williams.
The court’s intervention comes two months after Magistrate John rejected a competency-to-stand-trial report prepared by staff at the Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre (MHC), ruling that the assessment must be conducted by a qualified psychiatrist.
However, despite the court’s order, no new report has been produced.
Lawyer Grant Connell, who is representing Williams pro bono, told the court that officials at the Mental Health Centre have effectively been unable to comply with the order because SVG still does not have a licensed psychiatrist attached to the institution.
Williams, 27, of Belair, is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon — a modified .32 firearm — and three rounds of ammunition allegedly found at his home on Feb. 6.
His case has become the centre of a wider debate about the state of mental health services in SVG and whether mentally ill people are receiving adequate care and legal protection.
Court throws out mental health report
The controversy began after Connell challenged a competency report prepared by Alvis, Dr. Micheal Stowe and Dr. Franklyn Joseph in April.
During testimony before the SOC, all three health professionals admitted under oath that they are not trained psychiatrists.
Stowe and Joseph described themselves as general practitioners, while Alvis acknowledged that she holds a doctorate in psychology but is not a medical doctor.
John subsequently ruled the report inadmissible and ordered Williams to undergo a fresh evaluation by a psychiatrist.
Connell has argued that the order cannot be fulfilled because the state has failed to recruit a psychiatrist, leaving his client trapped in a legal limbo.
“This young man is being sacrificed because the order of the court cannot be carried out,” Connell said recently.
“If the powers that be do not have the energy to get a psychiatrist, they are saying that people like this are not worthy to spend money on.”
Mother alleges son’s life was destroyed
Meanwhile, Williams’ mother, Rhonda Williams, has accused the state’s mental health system of failing her son and contributing to his deterioration.
She claims that her family’s ordeal began in 2014 when Kesroy, then a Form 4 student at Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia, was sent to the Mental Health Centre for evaluation following an incident involving police officers at her Belair home.
Rhonda Williams said her son had no history of mental illness before being sent to the facility.
She said that while there, he was mixed with psychiatric patients, got in an altercation with one of them, and was administered a long-acting antipsychotic injection despite being at the institution solely for court-ordered observation.
“After that injection was given, he was never the same,” she said. “He was healthy and came out different when he went there at 15.”
Williams said she has spent years trying unsuccessfully to obtain her son’s medical records from the Mental Health Centre, the Ministry of Health and other state agencies.
“I want the medical report. I want to know what happened,” she said.
“What I really want is justice for Kesroy and for people to know the full story of how his demise actually started.”
She questioned why her son was referred for psychiatric evaluation in the first place and why he was allegedly medicated without a confirmed diagnosis.
Public safety concerns
Connell has warned that the issues exposed by Williams’ case extend far beyond a single individual and pose a broader risk to public safety.
He made the comment on April 21, the same day the court rejected the competency report and the country recorded its 16th homicide this year, allegedly committed by a mentally unstable man.
The lawyer said cases involving mentally ill defendants come before the courts regularly and judicial officers often rely heavily on reports prepared by the Mental Health Centre.
“It is troubling what is happening in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but the problem is that it is the public that is paying the price when mentally unstable people cannot get the help they need,” Connell said.
He also pointed to evidence presented in court that Williams is prescribed Risperidone, an antipsychotic medication commonly used to treat schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.
Connell argued that such medications can affect concentration and cognitive functioning, raising concerns about whether patients can meaningfully participate in court proceedings.
Court awaits answers
The latest move by the chief magistrate signals growing frustration within the judiciary over health authorities’ inability to comply with court orders regarding mental health assessments.
With no psychiatrist currently available to prepare the report ordered by the court, questions remain about how Williams’ case will proceed h.
The appearance of senior Ministry of Health officials before the court next month is expected to provide answers not only about Williams’ case but also about the broader state of psychiatric services in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In the meantime, Williams remains warded at the psychiatric hospital, caught between a court seeking expert psychiatric guidance and a health system seemingly unable to provide it.