Styllou Christofi : Criminal Lunacy as a Defense in Court

Abstract

Two murder trials in the 1950s examine the criminal justice system of discrimination towards women and people of ethnic minorities within London. This project focuses on the case of Styllou Christofi and Ruth Ellis. The Holloway prison for women is located in London, where these two were incarcerated offered medical treatment and lacked psychiatric treatment. In the UK, Parliament addressed the care of the mentally ill in three vital legislative acts. These include the Capital Punishment Act of 1868, Criminal Lunacy Act of 1884 section 2 (4), the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, and the Durham rule in 1954. The two women were executed, and it is arguable that neither of the women should have been. The crime of “passion” resulted in incarceration, court trials, and the execution. The research focuses on how the court rulings determined the psychological stability of “murderers.” Press reports clearly distinguished age, race, gender, class, and religious beliefs. These trials highlight the challenges posed by poor mental health within the criminal justice and health care systems. The also research addresses how the media publicized the Ruth Ellis case in comparison to that, of the Styllou Christofi death.