Man Not Guilty Of Murder Because Of Insanity (Press, 17 September 1980)

Arthur Ball, a 42-year-old unemployed chef, was found not guilty of the murder of university student Miles Ian Lars-MacFarlane due to insanity in the Wellington High Court on 16 September 1980. Ball had stabbed MacFarlane while he was walking with friends in Willis Street on 14 April 1980. Following the jury's verdict, Mr Justice O’Regan ordered that Ball be treated as a special patient in a mental hospital in accordance with the Mental Health Act. The jury spent an hour and a half deliberating, after hearing the case that commenced on the preceding Monday. Ball's defence, presented by Mr P. F. Boshier, argued that he was legally insane at the time of the act under section 23 of the Crimes Act, which protects individuals who are unable to understand the nature and morality of their actions due to mental illness. Three psychiatrists testified regarding Ball's mental state. Dr Gerald William Kershaw Bridge, who evaluated Ball at the Central Police Station, described him as suffering from severe anxiety since childhood, leading to issues in forming relationships. He indicated that Ball experienced delusions, believing that he was being tormented by others. This led to violent outbursts, such as lunging at an imaginary tormentor with a knife. On the day of the incident, Dr Bridge stated that Ball perceived MacFarlane's presence as the culmination of all his past tormentors, leading him to attack without recalling the stabbing itself. Dr Anthony Brian Marks, another psychiatrist, elaborated on Ball's condition, diagnosing him with paranoid schizophrenia. Ball experienced a constant sense of persecution, resulting in frequent relocations throughout New Zealand and Australia in attempts to escape his imagined tormentors. He often carried objects like newspapers or kitchen knives to feel a semblance of power against those he believed threatened him. Dr John Hall, the medical superintendent at Porirua Hospital, concurred with his colleagues, stating that Ball had minimal ability to form moral judgments regarding his actions. Witnesses recounted the event, describing Ball as a dishevelled figure who stabbed MacFarlane unprovoked, exclaiming, “I'll show you. That’ll show, all of you.” Following the attack, Ball expressed agitation and shock upon learning that MacFarlane had died, claiming he did not intend to harm anyone. Ball's troubled past began with his mother's death when he was ten and his father's passing five years later, which sowed the seeds of his mental health issues. Following a period of Army training, he struggled with increasing withdrawal and obsession over his perceived tormentors, ultimately becoming unemployed for the last two and a half years leading up to the incident. On the day of the stabbing, Ball had taken a knife from his home, intending to confront the groups he felt were persecuting him. Throughout his police interviews, he displayed agitation and incoherence, later expressing remorse for his actions, clearly indicating that he did not view MacFarlane as an individual, but rather a manifestation of all his past harassments.

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