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Chief Medical Director Testifies In Mental Case

Nov 24, 2009, 12:15 PM | Article By: Bakary Samateh

Following a court order made by Principal Magistrate Emanuel Nkea of Banjul Magistrates' Court, Professor Dr. Patrick Addy, the Chief Medical Director of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) yesterday appeared in court to shed more light on the medical report of one Omar Jah, who is currently standing trial for the offence of prohibition of conduct, conducive to the breach of peace.

The medical report which was prepared by a Cuban, Dr. Pedro Hernandez indicated that the accused is mentally disturbed.

The Chief Medical Director told the court that going by the medical report, dated 11th November 2009, the accused person, who is currently admitted at Tanka Tanka Psychiatric Hospital, is suffering from Bipolar disorder and Psychotic episodes.

According to him, this condition is manifested in three phases: Maniatic phase, which makes the patient very aggressive on people and even an action sometimes tells that a particular patient has mental disorder.

He said the second phase is a normal one, in that the patient would be seen very calm like any normal human without making any problem, and would often be taken as a normal person, while he's not.

While on the third phase of depression, he said, the patient is often seen very depressed, and hence isolate himself from the people.

He added that in most cases when you go through the history of a particular family you find out that either the uncle or father of the victim suffered from the same illness since day one.

Prof. Addy therefore testified that he could confirm that the accused person is suffering from mental disorder.