Prints of darkness

A reader - alas not a fan - of this blog has recently contested my assertion that contemporary law does not recognise the agency of spiritual entities (eg courts don't blame ghosts or demons for theft, assault and other crime). Sorry, evading responsibility by blaming misbehaviour on Baron Samedi, Casper the Ghost, Elvis or the gremlins just won't work except as an indication of mental problems.

That non-recognition was illustrated in today's ABC report regarding Rachel Hadley, labelled tabloid-style as 'Mum killed toddler to 'expel evil spirits''.

Rachel Cherie Hadley stood on her son's chest and mouth to expel evil spirits, court heard.

A court has found a mother was psychotic when she killed her two-year-old son by standing on him.

The Supreme Court in Adelaide received psychiatric reports that Rachel Cherie Hadley stood on her son's chest and mouth to expel evil spirits.

The doctors said she thought she was curing him, rather than killing him.

An autopsy found the toddler died from asphyxiation.

Unsurprisingly, the court did not find that the two-year-old had been inhabited by a denizen from the Pit. Instead, the fatal footprints reflected his mother's mistaken, tragic belief.

Justice Kevin Duggan found his mother was mentally incompetent when she killed him. ... The woman's lawyer, Bill Braithwaite, said there would be no application for her release, meaning she is expected to be kept in a mental health facility."