Sidelining of NZ forensic psychiatrist causes stir

Former New Zealand forensic psychiatrist Ananth Pullela is at the heart of a controversy in Western Australia over dangerous sex offenders being released without specialist forensic psychiatric assessments.

Assessments were formerly done by Dr Pullela, who was head-hunted from New Zealand 10 years ago to work with WA's most dangerous offenders.

However, supporters of Dr Pullela, who specialised in identifying the re-offending risk of serious sexual predators, told the Sunday Times newspaper in Perth that he was forced from his position in a bureaucratic power struggle when the Gallop Government took office in 2001.

Previously, Dr Pullela provided reports directly for the Parole Board and former attorney-general, Peter Foss.

At Mr Foss's instruction, Dr Pullela provided six-monthly reviews of the most dangerous sex offenders on indefinite sentences -- those who can be released only with the attorney-general's permission.

Clinical psychologist Les Harrison also provided the reports, together with Dr Pullela. Mr Harrison still provides assessments, but Dr Pullela has been moved to Perth's Graylands Hospital and no forensic psychiatrist has replaced him .

Multiple sex-attacker Terry Ciciora, the infamous Douglas "Peg Leg" Thomas and serial paedophiles Robert Excell and Otto Darcy-Searle have all been freed without undertaking the assessment.

Paul Stephen Keating, who brutally raped a woman teacher during a siege in Bunbury Prison five months ago, was downgraded to medium security in May 2002 -- a year after previously mandatory psychiatric reviews were stopped.

Dr Pullela told the Sunday Times he could not comment on the issue because he was still a public servant, and Dr Pullela's former boss, Gerry Hodgkinson, said the psychiatrist was a valued employee who should not have been removed.

Dr Hodgkinson, director of health services in the Ministry for Justice until 2000, said Dr Pullela was given the most demanding cases in the custodial system.

"The fundamental issue is that bureaucratic politics and professional jealousy is potentially putting the public interest and the public safety at risk," he said.

"If they consider that keeping Ananth is not appropriate they can get rid of him, but ... there are now no reviews being done by a forensic psychiatrist any more."

Mr Foss said this week that he had relied heavily on the advice of Dr Pullela when deciding whether to release hard-core prisoners.

"I wanted independent advice so I had a clinical psychologist (Mr Harrison) and Dr Pullela to help advise me," he said.

"I can't stress how dangerous it is to rely on the trainers' reports because they spend all their time with these people.

"I didn't want to just take the Parole Board's advice either, because I found they weren't right a lot of the time. They didn't have the time to look properly at the serious cases."

Mr Foss said the present Attorney-General Jim McGinty was probably unaware of Dr Pullela's value because Dr Pullela was removed as soon as the government changed.

"I think that some people in Justice didn't like Dr Pullela keeping people in (prison)," Mr Foss said.

He said he would never have released Ciciora and Thomas, who had both been evaluated for him every six months by Dr Pullela.

However, Ralph Chapman, the manager now in Dr Hodgkinson's former role at the Department of Justice, raised questions over whether Dr Pullela's position even existed.

Dr Chapman said the department did not employ psychiatrists in any capacity other than on a sessional basis.

"The Department of Justice, in partnership with the State Forensic Mental Health Service, continues to provide professional psychiatric reports to the relevant releasing authorities as required," he said.

- NZPA