Killing of Jonathan Zito

On 17 December 1992, Christopher Clunis stabbed Jonathan Zito to death at Finsbury Park station, London, England.[1][2]

Christopher Clunis

Christopher Clunis was born on 18 May 1963 in Jamaica.[2] He was treated as an inpatient at its Bellevue Hospital in 1986.[2] Soon after, he moved to London, where from 1986 to 1992, he received psychiatric treatment at several hospitals.[2]

Killing

At between 3 and 4pm on 17 December 1992, in Finsbury Park Underground station in North London, England, Clunis used a knife to stab 27-year-old stranger Jonathan Zito three times in the face.[1] Zito was taken to Whittington Hospital, where he died two hours later. The fatal wound pierced his right upper eyelid and brain.

Proceedings

Clunis was arrested and taken to Holloway Road police station. At 3:45 pm on 18 December, he was charged with murder.[2] On 28 June 1993 at the Old Bailey, he admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.[2] He was ordered to be detained indefinitely in Rampton, a secure hospital in Nottingham.[1][2]

Reaction

The killing received a great deal of coverage in the British mainstream media as well as in scholarly publications, including controversy in regard to the inadequate psychiatric healthcare given to Clunis, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

References
  1. "From monster to human being in 50 minutes". The Independent. 21 December 1995. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  2. Clunis v Camden & Islington Health Authority
  3. "Christopher Clunis Report: Schizophrenic made 'series of violent attacks'". The Independent. 25 February 1994. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. Cooling, Nicholas J. (1 March 2002). "Lessons to be learnt from the Christopher Clunis story: a mental health perspective". Clinical Risk. 8 (2): 52–55. doi:10.1258/1356262021928869. ISSN 1356-2622. S2CID 144990828.
  5. Coid, Jeremy W. (August 1994). "The Christopher Clunis enquiry". Psychiatric Bulletin. 18 (8): 449–452. doi:10.1192/pb.18.8.449. ISSN 0955-6036.
  6. Hallam, Angela (1 January 2002). "Media influences on mental health policy: long-term effects of the Clunis and Silcock cases". International Review of Psychiatry. 14 (1): 26–33. doi:10.1080/09540260120114032. ISSN 0954-0261. S2CID 144506231.


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