Whilst I am against capital punishment, I have two "heads" on on this one.

The heroin the executed man smuggled could have lead to 27,000 deaths and he must have known that the only outcome in China for drug smuggling is death. If he was in such a grave mental state, as his relatives made out, why was he allowed to travel alone?

I am not making moral judgement here - simply saying that smuggling of any illegal drug should carry a very very stiff punishment. I feel it's a pity our government are so soft on drug pushers and peddlars.

I agree toally about the British government.

Hi Bob,

Rant all you like Bob, you've got my full support on this one. From working in mental health for many years and having had experience of working with diverse communities here in London, I can understand how Akmal Shaikh got himself into such a tragic situation that sadly resulted in him being executed.

Firstly, in China mental illness is poorly understood with a culture that has little or no understanding and a great intolerance to those who do not tow the line, or who behave or act differently. This man was also deprived of a full mental state examination, and without treatment possibly lacked mental capacity during his entire imprisonment.

Secondly, he was not of British origin and there is the issue of his skin colour. My has daughter travelled extensively throughout China with her Chinese friend and was horrified by what she saw and by the racist attitudes of the Chinese people she encountered, stating the educated were the worst.

Thirdly, although he was a British citizen he came from an Asian community where mental illness has a different cultural meaning and with treatments often being spiritual and when these do not work, families often find themselves helpless or not knowing how to seek help until crisis point when their mentally ill relative ends up coming to the attention of the police or other emergency services. There is also the stigma attached to mental illness within this community to consider, also he was an older adult single male who was possibly considered as unproductive to the family, or possessed by a Jinn (evil spirit).

Fourthly, he was suspected of suffering from manic depression/bipolar affective disorder and from what I have read from his case history he definitely appeared to have exhibited many of the classical symptoms, such as delusions of grandeur, believing you're omnipotent and can achieve anything. Who goes to China to make a record as an older Asian male? During manic phases people with this illness become incredibly vulnerable and open to all sorts of abuse and exploitation.

What is happening to Gary McKinnon just goes to show how spineless our current government is. You are right Bob, I think Briton has got it's head stuck up both America's and the Chinese's Ar.. America is a super power on it's way out, and the Chinese are on it's way up!

Love,


Barbara
XXXXXX

Dear Bob
I feel really touched by what has happened to this man. my neice has just been sectioned again she too suffers with bi-polar and in the manic stages that have happened to her she is so different to the sweet girl we know. she argues & fights with her mum & dad she has so many things happening in her head where she truly believes she can do things, her whole character changes she goes into pubs and asks complete strangers to buy her drinks and takes risks that you would not believe if you knew her she is the sweetest most caring person but when this dreadful illness hits her it completly changes her. Her mum & Dad have been pushed to breaking point. I really feel for them there christmas as been spent worrying about her wondering if she is safe. She is now 30 years old so not possible to make her stay home. this is the second time they have had to get her sectioned to get the help she despretly needs. the first time was really really horrible as she didn't understand what was happening to her. this time not nice but she did agree she needed the help.
sue v

Perhaps somone can help me out here.

As I said previously, I am totally against the death penalty under any circumstances. However, what if this man had managed to smuggle this heroin into the country and thousands of people had become addicted or even died because of his actions? Would that be OK?

Love Jeanxx

Hi, I agree that we have to respect the laws of other countries, Malcolm and I were talking about it and China is not exactly a place for a holiday, so why did he go in the first place? They have a deplorable record on human rights, I feel really sorry for his family though, no amount of pleading would have given him clemency, they already knew they were going to execute him and weren't going to change their minds love Kimxx

Hi jean
yes i agree that carrying the drugs was totally wrong. but to not take into account his mental health I find hard but that i think is because of the situation with my niece. Before she was first sectioned She had it in her head that she could go to America and be a football coach now this sounds and could of been quite plausible she was a very good football player gave quite a few of the boys a run for there money. if she had had the money to get on a flight she would of gone. the frightening thing was She was In the manic stage of this illness and would do and take risks, her judgement had completely left her. We as a family are finding it very hard as after the manic highs come the crashing lows where she will completly withdraw into herself and sleep for hours on end, and finds it very difficult to talk about the manic periods. We have talked and said as a family which is worse? the manic where she is being irrational and doing things completely out of character and we don't know where she is, or the deep depression where nothing interests her and she stays at home in her dressing gown wanting to sleep and not caring for herself. selfish i know, its the highs. we know where she is but it is heartbreaking to see this beautiful young girl who should be out with her friends enjoying life.
sue v

Bob, you have my full support on this; our government is, as you point out, two-faced and is totally inconsistent in its dealings with other countries. Thank you for raising this and for providing the link.

Anthea x