Mental health sufferers 'abandoned' says judge

A district judge has said mental health sufferers are not adequately dealt with by the court and called for the future justice minister to take urgent action.

Barney McElholm made the appeal after he jailed a homeless man for two months at Londonderry Magistrates Court on Monday.

Patrick Joseph Harkin, 23, admitted stealing three bottles of cider from a supermarket in Derry at the weekend.

Harkin, was given a suspended sentence for shoplifting two weeks previously.

Mr McElholm said people like Harkin were being abandoned by the judicial system.

He said defendants with mental health problems have been 'cast adrift' because no adequate legislation was available to the courts.