Marceau inquest: psych expert says killer 'perfect example of a psychopath'

Akshay Chand told a forensic psychiatrist after he had kidnapped Christie Marceau that he was no longer a danger to her. Photo / File

A forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Christie Marceau's killer to see if he was fit to stand trial says the report he provided to the court was not intended to be used at a bail hearing.

And he says Ashkay Chand "deliberately deceived" people to get bail with the sole purpose of harming Christie further.

Dr Ian Goodwin interviewed Chand while he was on remand at Mt Eden Prison on September 16, 2011.

Chand was facing charges of kidnapping and assaulting Christie, 18, and had been denied bail after his first appearance in the North Shore District Court.

Goodwin interviewed Chand on the orders of Judge Barbara Morris, who presided over the first two hearings with the offender.

"The express purpose of that order was to assess the issue of fitness to stand trial," he said.

"In that report I opined that Mr Chand presented with symptoms of a mild to moderate depressive illness.

"I also opined that there was no evidence of any psychotic process."

Goodwin concluded that Chand "did not fulfil the criteria for mental disorder" as outlined in the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992.

He made a number of recommendations for ongoing treatment of Chand's depressive illness.

"Regardless of whether he was to be released on bail, or remanded in custody," Goodwin said.

"I also raised the issue that counsel for Mr Chand may wish to pursue the possibility of a defence [of] insanity."

Chand did not pursue that defence in relation to the kidnapping and assault charge, but did for the charge of murdering Christie.

Christie Marceau (centre) with her mother Tracey and sister Heather. Photo / Supplied

He later pleaded guilty to the earlier charges and was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in the High Court at Auckland.

Goodwin said he did not have any oversight over Chand's mental health, other than to assess his fitness to stand trial on the initial charges.

"The determination of fitness is made by the court, not the health professional," he said.

"In order to provide an assessment of fitness to stand trial, a comprehensive history and psychiatric examination of the defendant is undertaken.

"This includes information from collateral sources as well as information obtained from the defendant."

Goodwin said in his interview with Chand, the teenager "was not psychotic".

"It was clear to me, at that time, that Mr Chand had not experienced psychotic phenomena.

"Mr Chand was extremely remorseful and able to give specific assurances to me about the safety of Ms Marceau.

"Based on his previous lack of violent offending or apparent dishonesty combined with the consistent collateral history available there was no reason to disbelieve his assurances at that time".

Goodwin said the report he provided to the court was not intended for the purposes of bail.

"During my interview with Mr Chand, he stated that he was 'hoping to get bail' at his next appearance.

"I did not think my report would be relied upon for bail purposes, and this was not the purposes of the report.

Goodwin said fitness reports "are just that".

"They should not be used for any other purpose, and the question of whether bail should be granted is one for the court alone," he said.

"If the court requested a risk assessment with regard to the possibility of bail I would have done so."

Goodwin said he took "extensive" notes during his interview with Chand but many were not relevant to the specific fitness report, so he did not include them.

"In my opinion it would have been extremely useful for subsequent assessors of Mr Chand, particularly those who wrote reports on the issues of insanity in relation to the murder charge, to have reviewed these notes or discussed Mr Chand's mental state at the time I interviewed him, prior to the production of their reports."

Goodwin also revealed that he pushed Chand as far as he could to ensure he was getting the truth from the offender about whether he had plans to attack Christie again in future.

"I pushed him quite hard on that," he told the inquest."

To the point that I broke him down actually.

"He was actually really contrite and really remorseful ... really quite distressed."

Chand told Goodwin he "wouldn't do it again".

Fitness reports used for bail? "I'd be concerned", says expert

Marceau family lawyer Nikki Pender asked Goodwin if it was logical to assume that his report would be used for a bail hearing given Chand said he hoped to get bail, and a police opposition form had been filed.

"No," he said firmly, adding he had not been asked to do a report for bail so assumed that the court was clear on what he had provided.

He said he'd be concerned if a fitness report had been used to determined whether Chand should get bail.

Pender asked if Goodwin would consider putting a disclaimer on future reports to ensure that the court knew absolutely what their intended use was.

"Potentially," he replied.

"But it would be superfluous as the courts are generally pretty clear."

Had he been asked to assess Chand specifically for bail he would have focused much more heavily on the risk to Christie.

He said he would have looked at what access Chand had to his victim, what access he had to weapons or "other means of potentially causing her harm".

"That type of risk assessment, when you're looking at could a person really injure someone else, you go into a bit more detail," he said.

Chand a "psychopath"

Pender read Goodwin a transcript of the police interview with Chand after he was charged with murdering Christie.

During that interview Chand admitted the letter he wrote the court pleading for bail was "soppy" and while he expressed remorse in it - he didn't mean it.

He admitted that he was planning to kill Christie when he was remanded at Mt Eden and because he was apathetic - which he alleged was the result of his antidepressants - it was "easy" to take her life.

Pender asked Goodwin if, after reading that transcript, his initial report on Chand was wrong.

"He's the perfect example of a psychopath," Goodwin said.

"He is boastful about his actions... extremely callous."

Chand was "glib" about killing Christie and had "pride" in his actions.

"He showed no remorse," Goodwin said.

"Chand deliberately deceived a number of people, a number of psychiatrists and others through the entire process."

He said it was "very difficult" to identify psycopathy in someone who had not shown signs in the past.

"It's almost impossible to predict with no history," he said.