The case of Mrs May Clarke, whose verdict of guilty to a shoplifting charge was quashed by the Appeal Court, is quoted together with others to illustrate the clinical findings of short-lived periods of confused thinking in patients suffering from depression.
The opinion is expressed that shoplifting is a suicide-equivalent in these cases, and it is urged that the proposal of the Butler Committee to introduce a verdict of ‘not guilty on evidence of mental disorder’ should be extended to lesser offences such as shoplifting.
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