New risk assessment for mass murderer
Mass murderer Mattias Flink, who shot seven people to death in Falun in central Sweden in 1994, is to undergo a new assessment of his risk to society.
The Örebro District Court ruled on Monday that Flink will be examined by Sweden’s National Board of Forensic Medicine (RMV) to determine the likelihood of a criminal relapse.
Flink had sought to have his lifetime prison sentence reduced to 24 years.
He has already served 14 years of his sentence.
RMV’s investigation is due back to the Örebro court on July 7th.
Flink took the court’s decision without a great deal of surprise.
“It’s what I expected,” he said to the TT news agency.
Through other inmates he’s heard how the risk assessment is carried out.
“There will be a few sessions with different teams of forensic psychiatrists, as far as I know,” he said.
Police in Falun received the call about a shooting at 2.38am on June 11th, 1994.
They arrived on the scene to find one gravely injured and five dead women, all of whom were members of the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Service.
A short distance away, police found two men who had been shot to death.
Flink was shot in the hip in connection with his arrest. He had fired off 51 rounds with his service weapon, an AK 5.
In February 1995 he was sentenced by Sweden’s Supreme Court to life in prison for seven murders following a heated dispute among forensic psychiatrists.
The majority of forensic psychiatrists who examined Flink found him to have been mentally deranged at the time of the shootings, but not during the trial.
According to Swedish law, such an assessment should have resulted in Fink receiving a suspended sentence. However releasing Fink was politically impossible at the time, as it threatened to cause a crisis of confidence in Sweden’s judicial system.
In the end, the Supreme Court held Flink responsible for the crimes because his psychotic state had been caused by intoxication which he brought upon himself.
In another recent case the Supreme Court ruled that the risk for a relapse into criminality is the most important factor when deciding whether or not a lifetime sentence should be cut short.
“The Supreme Court’s practice means that no one today should have a shortened sentence of more than 24 years if that person isn’t a danger, which Flink hasn’t been found to be,” said Flink’s lawyer Johan Eriksson.
Fink was last examined for the likelihood of a relapse in 2001 in connection with his application for a 24-hour leave pass, which would have allowed him to spend a night outside of prison.
Forensic psychiatrist Göran Fransson judged there to be no risk at the time. Since then Fink has undergone individual counseling for seven years.
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The Örebro District Court ruled on Monday that Flink will be examined by Sweden’s National Board of Forensic Medicine (RMV) to determine the likelihood of a criminal relapse.
Flink had sought to have his lifetime prison sentence reduced to 24 years.
He has already served 14 years of his sentence.
RMV’s investigation is due back to the Örebro court on July 7th.
Flink took the court’s decision without a great deal of surprise.
“It’s what I expected,” he said to the TT news agency.
Through other inmates he’s heard how the risk assessment is carried out.
“There will be a few sessions with different teams of forensic psychiatrists, as far as I know,” he said.
Police in Falun received the call about a shooting at 2.38am on June 11th, 1994.
They arrived on the scene to find one gravely injured and five dead women, all of whom were members of the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Service.
A short distance away, police found two men who had been shot to death.
Flink was shot in the hip in connection with his arrest. He had fired off 51 rounds with his service weapon, an AK 5.
In February 1995 he was sentenced by Sweden’s Supreme Court to life in prison for seven murders following a heated dispute among forensic psychiatrists.
The majority of forensic psychiatrists who examined Flink found him to have been mentally deranged at the time of the shootings, but not during the trial.
According to Swedish law, such an assessment should have resulted in Fink receiving a suspended sentence. However releasing Fink was politically impossible at the time, as it threatened to cause a crisis of confidence in Sweden’s judicial system.
In the end, the Supreme Court held Flink responsible for the crimes because his psychotic state had been caused by intoxication which he brought upon himself.
In another recent case the Supreme Court ruled that the risk for a relapse into criminality is the most important factor when deciding whether or not a lifetime sentence should be cut short.
“The Supreme Court’s practice means that no one today should have a shortened sentence of more than 24 years if that person isn’t a danger, which Flink hasn’t been found to be,” said Flink’s lawyer Johan Eriksson.
Fink was last examined for the likelihood of a relapse in 2001 in connection with his application for a 24-hour leave pass, which would have allowed him to spend a night outside of prison.
Forensic psychiatrist Göran Fransson judged there to be no risk at the time. Since then Fink has undergone individual counseling for seven years.
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