Unfit to plead, unfit for discharge: patients found unfit to plead who are still in hospital

The cases of individuals found unfit to plead between 1976 and 1987 who were still in hospital as of September 1989 were evaluated. They were younger at the time of the initial finding, more likely to have been inpatients at the time of the alleged offence and more likely to have no criminal record. Alleged offences were more severe in those still in hospital, and more of them had initially been sent to a special hospital. (Abstract amended)