by Maxine Roberts

Created on: April 25, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

My brother suffers with a mental illness and I am informed now that he has done since a young child. Well yes that would explain why, as his younger sister I got physically and mentally abused by him. His behavior was always unpredictable, he did the strangest things and was on times violent towards my mum and dad especially mum who always showed unconditional love for him no matter what he did. In 1989 he assaulted a member of the public, a complete stranger in-fact, this man wore leg irons, disabled he fractured his jaw, the poor man needed plastic surgery. My brother was sentenced to 15 months in prison. Whilst in prison he was seen by the prison psychiatrist who found no evidence of mental illness but indeed found him a very strange individual, who had taken illicit drugs such as cannabis and LSD on occasions. After his release from prison his personality deteriorated rapidly. My parents and I, by now were treading on eggshells! Four years on 1993 I had been in touch with our family GP, Solicitor, and Police on several occasions. My dad and I became so desperate we even had a meeting with local MP but all these authorities could not help our plight. Isolated, living in fear of a member of our family who had already been known to the mental health service in 1989. Then on January 13th 1993 I received a telephone call from my distraught dad telling me to come home quick as my brother had assaulted them both. My dear mum was hurt bad he had fractured her skull with an ashtray, mum was unconscious my dad in shock with a gash to the back of his head and a tooth missing. Mum need 32 stitches a metal plate inserted and her right eye was badly damaged. The physical injuries healed as best they could but the mental scars he caused never left her. My brother had now five assault charges against him including my parents. On his release from prison he was sectioned and sent to a psychiatric offenders clinic where he was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and started receiving anti-psychotic medication by injection. He was eventually moved to a hospital nearer his home and mum had been to visit him, however my dad and I could not bring ourselves to visit. My dad passed away in 1998 with a rare lung disease and by now my brother was having regular visits to my mum who in my opinion should never have been placed in a position to make this decision , simply because she was his mother and knew her son was ill. In October 2005 I received the phone call I had dreaded all my adult

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