In November 2010, when his wife Anni was murdered, Shrien Dewani had no history of mental illness.
By last week, his health had deteriorated to the point that a UK court found he was not fit to plead and stand trial for his wife’s murder in South Africa.
Documents which form part of the judgment show how he became depressed and stressed and began to show psychotic symptoms.
* November 13, 2010: Anni is murdered.
* November 16, 2010: Dewani returns to the UK. He has no history of mental illness, but on his return begins to show signs of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
* December 7, 2010: Dewani is arrested in the UK. His depression and PTSD worsens after his arrest.
* February 20, 2011: He overdoses on pills. He is admitted to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, where he tells staff in a department that he doesn’t want to live, but denies to others the overdose is a suicide attempt.
He is later discharged from the infirmary, as a condition of his bail, to the Priory Hospital as an in-patient.
* April 11, 2011: Dewani’s condition deteriorates further after the onset of suspected serotonin syndrome, a reaction to drugs resulting in an increase in serotonin in the body. He develops psychotic symptoms and is transferred to the low-security psychiatric unit at Kewstoke.
* April 23, 2011: Dewani is admitted to the Fromeside Clinic in Bristol under the Mental Health Act. His bail conditions are changed,
allowing him to reside at the medium secure unit. The consulting psychiatrist treating him is Dr Paul Cantrell.
* July 14, 2011: In a joint statement by Professor Nigel Eastman, for Dewani, and Professor Michael Kopelman, for the SA government, they agree Dewani is suffering from two mental disorders, each severe in degree: depressive illness and PTSD.
Eastman finds it unusual to have depression and PTSD to such a severe degree.
The two professors find:
1)There is a real risk of Dewani harming himself or committing suicide, but this is not immediate.
2) Dewani is unfit to plead because while he understands the charges against him, he will not be able to follow the details of the evidence or instruct his advocates.
3) Dewani is not fit to travel to SA and there’s a significant risk of a further relapse into psychosis, which would increase his unfitness to travel.
4) If extradited, his mental state will deteriorate and the suicide risk would increase.
* September 27, 2011: The medical director for the National Health Trust responsible for the care of Dewani writes to the City of Westminster Magistrate’s Court to inform the court that Cantrell has advised there is some improvement in Dewani’s depressive illness and a decrease in the risk of suicide. Therefore, it is no longer appropriate to detain Dewani under the Mental Health Act.
Cantrell is of the view that detaining Dewani in hospital is “serving no meaningful purpose and forming a barrier to his progress”.
Cantrell offers to provide a report, but no action is taken on behalf of Dewani as a result of the letter.
* November 10, 2011: Dewani is made the subject of a further order under the Mental Health Act.
* December 14, 2011: Cantrell reports that Dewani is “making slow but positive progress”. He is still suffering from severe depression and PTSD, but the improvement in his condition is reflected in that both illnesses are closer to being moderate.
Cantrell supports the decision of another doctor that Dewani should continue to be held because he is “entering the most dangerous phase in recovering from severe depression.”
Dewani remains a high suicide risk and remains unfit to plead because of his inability to concentrate, the doctor says.
Cape Times