(NewsInsights.org) – Schizophrenia is a mental illness categorized as a psychosis that affects how a person feels, thinks, and behaves. It requires lifelong treatment as there is no cure. One murder suspect allegedly faked having the disease to avoid being placed in jail.
In October 2018, then-16-year-old Vladimir Ivashikin attacked his stepfather, Dr. Barry Hounsome, in his Gosport, Hampshire, home. The lecturer died from the force of his injuries. Ivashikin claimed to have been driven by the voices in his head and admitted to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility despite the prosecutor noting that the suspect had no prior mental health issues. John Price KC said the first time Ivashikin ever said anything about hearing voices in his head was on the day he attacked Hounsome.
Hounsome was brutally murdered in his home. In addition to suffering “catastrophic” injuries to his head, he had dozens of slash and stab wounds from various weapons, including a drill, hammer, and knives. Ivashikin was the one who called 999 to report the crime, saying he had hit his stepfather many times.
Now, the case has been reopened after Ivashikin allegedly told a nurse in a psychiatric facility that he lied about having schizophrenia. The suspect is once again on trial for the crime.
In the trial, it was revealed that Ivashikin told a nurse in 2022 that he killed Hounsome because he wanted to know “what it would be like” and “how powerful it would feel.” That’s a far cry from what he originally told doctors who diagnosed him based on what he was saying.
The court heard an accounting of what Ivashikin told his nurse, Jacob Butcher, who said the suspect became visibly upset in his recounting of the murder and said he knew the moment he started it was a mistake, but he “just had to carry on and get it over with.”
It’s been five years since the suspect was acquitted of murder and sent to Ravenswood House Hospital to receive treatment. Now, he’s facing murder charges again and has pleaded not guilty.
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