An examination of criminal offenders with dementia in Australian courts

Figures & data

Table 1. Distribution of dementia subtypes and mean ages of offenders.

Dementia type	Frequency (%)	Mean age in years (range)
Vascular dementia	12 (19.35%)	72.92 (62–87)
Unknown/other	10 (16.13%)	66.89 (34–86)
Frontotemporal dementia	10 (16.13%)	67.00 (55–86)
Dementia due to alcohol/other drugs	8 (12.90%)	49.86 (43–60)
Mixed vascular and Alzheimer’s dementia	7 (11.29%)	79.86 (65–88)
Alzheimer’s dementia	6 (9.68%)	77.00 (65–86)
Huntington’s disease	4 (6.45%)	36.35 (27–48)
Mixed vascular and alcohol-related dementia	3 (4.84%)	67.67 (64–87)
Dementia with Lewy bodies	1 (1.61%)	56.00 (56)
Posterior cortical dementia	1 (1.61%)	60.00 (60)
Total	62	66.15

Table 2. Frequency of dementia subtype by most serious offence charge (for most serious criminal charge against each offender).

	Mixed vascular and Alzheimer’s dementia (n = 7)	Dementia due to drugs/alcohol (n = 8)	Alzheimer’s dementia (n = 6)	Vascular dementia (n = 12)	Mixed vascular and alcohol dementia (n = 3)	Huntington’s disease (n = 4)	Unknown /other (n = 10)	Frontotemporal dementia (n = 10)	Dementia with Lewy Bodies n = 1	Posterior cortical atrophy n = 1
Homicide	6 (85.71%)	4 (50.00%)	2 (33.33%)	3 (25.00%)	1 (33.33%)	0	0	4 (40.00%)	0	1 (100%)
Child sexual assault (CSA)	0	0	3 (50.00%)	5 (41.67%)	2 (66.67%)	0	5 (50.00%)	2 (20.00%)	0	0
Assault/cause injury	1 (14.29%)	3 (37.50%)	0	2 (16.67%)	0	0	0	2 (20.00%)	1 (100%)	0
Adult sexual assault	0	0	1 (16.67%)	2 (16.67%)	0	1 (25.00%)	1 (10.00%)	2 (20.00%)	0	0
Property & larceny	0	0	0	0	0	2 (50.00%)	1 (10.00%)	0	0	0
Driving offences	0	1 (12.50%)	0	0	0	0	1 (10.00%)	0	0	0
Arson	0	0	0	0	0	1 (25.00%)	0	0	0	0
Breach of conditions	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (10.00%)	0	0	0
Perverting the course of justice	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 (10.00%)	0	0	0