The case of Valdo Calocane, convicted of diminished responsibility manslaughter, has brought to the public’s attention the role of expert psychiatric witnesses in cases of alleged murder. The context has been, and will be for some time, the intense public interest in the horrific killing of three people and the attempted murder of three others, all unknown to the offender, in Nottingham. The case raises a number of issues about the role of expert witnesses in criminal proceedings, mental condition defences and the meaning of public interest.

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