NS January 24th, 2008

I’ve been reading details of the trial that took place in Greece today of a British man charged with murdering his six-year-old son and attempting to murder his two-year-old daughter when he jumped from a 50ft hotel balcony in Crete with both children in his arms following an argument with his wife in which he discovered she planned to leave him. The boy, Liam, died of severe head injuries and the girl, Mia, survived with only a broken arm. Their father, John Hogan, escaped a prison sentence because the jury found him to be mentally unstable. Mr Hogan has a troubled and tragic family history — his younger brother committed suicide shortly after their father died from multiple sclerosis and then his other brother burned down the house they grew up in before throwing himself off a bridge, also killing himself. He has suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks since his teens. Talk about following in the family footsteps.

Mr Hogan has attempted to take his own life no less than four times since the incident, while in custody. He receives near-daily psychological treatment and is on a heavy course of anti-depressants. Now that he has been found mentally unstable, he will spend a year in a psychiatric hospital in Athens but could be released in under a year if his condition improves.

His ex-wife, Natasha, is understandably upset and made a statement in which she said, “This result was somewhat unexpected and has left me feeling that Liam lost his young life for nothing. I accept that an act of complete madness was uncharacteristic of John but to have done this to our children is unforgivable. I know that we all miss Liam, but it is Mia and I who are left to rebuild our lives without a loving, caring son and brother.”

My heart breaks for this family — all of them. I truly don’t think that justice could’ve ever been served here. No punishment will ever be enough to heal the wounds they all bear or to bring their innocent little boy back. A moment of unfortunate insanity from a deeply disturbed, mentally ill man has changed them all forever. I know the need for justice, the need for revenge, is strong. What this man did was wrong, not just on a legal level but a primal one. Infanticide is a frightening, horrible thing and something not many of us will ever be able to understand. Parents particularly are effected. The thought of your spouse murdering your child, the child you created, nurtured and loved….well, it’s not something we ever, ever want to think about. The anger, betrayal and hurt must go deeper than a thousand layers and a thousand years of sediment and ash in a red-hot volcano. Emotions so close to the surface are bound to erupt.

I am not excusing Mr Hogan’s actions, nor do I begrudge his ex-wife her feelings of indignation at his sentence. But all too often, and for far too long, we have condemned the mentally ill when we don’t truly understand the diseases that haunt them. I’m lucky enough to have not suffered from anything more than mild depression and one isolated panic attack in my life. I have no idea what it’s like to feel so dark and alone that death is preferable to taking another breath. For that, I am grateful. But for all of our sneering and jeering at ‘crazy people’, including  celebrities whose problems are being played out on the world stage (like Britney Spears), I hope we can muster enough humanity to reach out a helping hand instead of slapping cuffs and labels on those who reach out to us. Even those who don’t.

• Health and Fitness , In The News
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