GUILTY UK - Ashley Wadsworth, 19, Canadian, murdered 1st Feb 2022, Chelmsford, Essex *Arrest*

[ApparentlyInDenial]

I wonder if him being covered with tattoos - including neck and face - is a sign of his PD?

Is it a form of self harm?

Was he addicted to them?

Did he feel so worthless that decided to "beautify" his whole body?

I can understand that somebody wants one or two discreet tattoos but he took it to the extreme.

This: Did he feel so worthless that decided to "beautify" his whole body?

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

I wonder if him being covered with tattoos - including neck and face - is a sign of his PD?

Is it a form of self harm?

Was he addicted to them?

Did he feel so worthless that decided to "beautify" his whole body?

I can understand that somebody wants one or two discreet tattoos but he took it to the extreme.

This is actually fascinating. I never looked at the literature on tattoos/psychopathology overlap but after your post I had a quick read. Look at this:

"It is reasonable to argue that as the percentage of body surface area covered by tattoos increases, so do the dysfunctional traits of a specific main disorder. [...] borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, sadistic and masochistic traits are more frequent in subjects with more than 26% of the body surface covered by tattoos." (Dr Giulio Perrotta, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy: Massive use of tattoos and psychopathological clinical evidence)

So if more than 26% of the body is covered in tattoos, the 'dark triad' personality disorder traits are more likely to be present.

 

[Dotta]

This is actually fascinating. I never looked at the literature on tattoos/psychopathology overlap but after your post I had a quick read. Look at this:

"It is reasonable to argue that as the percentage of body surface area covered by tattoos increases, so do the dysfunctional traits of a specific main disorder. [...] borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, sadistic and masochistic traits are more frequent in subjects with more than 26% of the body surface covered by tattoos." (Dr Giulio Perrotta, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy: Massive use of tattoos and psychopathological clinical evidence)

So if more than 26% of the body is covered in tattoos, the 'dark triad' personality disorder traits are more likely to be present.

I always viewed tattoos as kind of Manifesto of a person having them.

In his case, the disorder manifested itself by tattoos.

 

[bluetit]

The first time I saw his picture, I immediately thought “he looks like E.T”. He is, IMO, very ugly

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

The first time I saw his picture, I immediately thought “he looks like E.T”. He is, IMO, very ugly

I thought the exact same re ET

 

[Dotta]

Good looks are like a lottery ticket in a gene pool.

 

[dotr]

Feb 6 2022
Vernon domestic peace agency sees ‘disturbing’ trend in youth dating violence – Vernon Morning Star
''A Vernon organization dedicated to helping women escape violence is saddened by the tragic murder of Vernon’s Ashley Wadsworth.

And while the murder of 19-year-old Wadsworth took place overseas in England, Archway Society for Domestic Peace says it’s been observing a “troubling amount of violence” in adolescent dating here at home.''

“Intimate partner homicide is always a tragedy but Ashley being only 19 years old makes this situation even more heartrending,” the society said in a press release. “We want to express our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.”

There have been wide reports of a spike in domestic violence over the course of the pandemic, and staff at Archway have experienced this concerning trend first-hand. The society says it has also seen a dramatic escalation in the severity of the abuse and the complexity of the cases.''

''Formerly the Vernon Women’s Transition House Society, Archway offers free services that can be accessed through its website, archwaysociety.ca.''

 

[Smkd]

I completely agree with you, I was just forwarding one mainstream theory. Obviously none of us know anything about this guy's personal psychology, but if you look through the eyes of psychologists, academics, practitioners etc., there is consensus that violent murderers are not psychologically well-formed.

This is from the DOJ in the US (Psychopathology of Serial Murder: A Theory of Violence | Office of Justice Programs):

"The serial murderer is examined in the context of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." The theory developed consists of three separate stages. Stage 1, called the "foundation of pathology," involves biological predisposition, environmental trauma and stressors, the development of esteem and control problems, and sexual dysfunction. Stage 2, called the "path of stressors and development to first murder," focuses on the development of maladaptive coping skills, retreat into a fantasy world, the commission of lesser crimes, the dissociative process, and finally the first kill. The third stage, called the "obsessive-compulsive and ritualistic cycle," involves the renewed urge to kill after the first killing, a cooling-off period, and the continuation of the cycle."

The so-called "dark triad" of personality disorders - Narcissist, Borderline, Antisocial - all share those three things I've highlighted in bold: 1. Esteem and control problems, 2. Maladaptive coping skills, 3. Dissociation. It's not a leap to diagnose someone displaying those traits with a PD, though of course PDs can be confused with things like bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and even biological issues.

The prison population is also an interesting place to look. According to NICE, in the UK an estimated 64% of male sentenced prisoners and 50% of female prisoners have a personality disorder (NICE, https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng66/documents/mental-health-of-people-in-prison-draft-scope2).

Academics in Iran found that 87.3% of women and 83.3% of men had a personality disorder at the time of committing the crime they were convicted for (PubMed, The Relationship between Personality Disorders and the Type of Crime Committed and Substance Used among Prisoners).

I think the overriding point for me is that violent offenders are not behaving 'normally', psychologically-speaking, and there has to be reasons for that; either psychosis, malformed emotional development, acute substance effects, etc.

The first link talks about serial killers which is not the case here. The second and third give statistics about the totality of prisoners, violent and non violent offences. They could be in for blackmail or property damage. Or drugs offences, which would make sense for people who have untreated personality disorders as there is a correlation between personality disorders and substance abuse disorder.
The frequency of personality disorders in people who are incarcerated in general doesn’t say anything about how frequent are personality disorders in people who commit murder

 

[otto]

This strikes me as a crime of passion. Given the fact that she was reaching out to others that day, and that she wanted to leave but had to wait due to covid restrictions, we know that the tension was escalating. It seems that he snapped - as happens in domestic conflict.

I'm curious - what's the typical sentence in the UK for second degree murder - if someone knows offhand?

I wonder whether any of the friends she reached out to, such as those new friends in Utah, advised her that the most dangerous time in a volatile domestic relationship is the moment when someone tries to leave that relationship - and recommended that she de-escalate the situation and wait until he was out to quietly and quickly leave.

 

[Dotta]

This strikes me as a crime of passion. Given the fact that she was reaching out to others that day, and that she wanted to leave but had to wait due to covid restrictions, we know that the tension was escalating. It seems that he snapped - as happens in domestic conflict.

I'm curious - what's the typical sentence in the UK for second degree murder - if someone knows offhand?

I wonder whether any of the friends she reached out to, such as those new friends in Utah, advised her that the most dangerous time in a volatile domestic relationship is the moment when someone tries to leave that relationship - and recommended that she de-escalate the situation and wait until he was out to quietly and quickly leave.

"I can see a complete life's time

Pictures and posters of times and fashion

19 years with no reason and rhyme

Taken away in a crime of passion."

This old song is never out of date
My Mum is a fan of Mike Oldfield.

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

This strikes me as a crime of passion. Given the fact that she was reaching out to others that day, and that she wanted to leave but had to wait due to covid restrictions, we know that the tension was escalating. It seems that he snapped - as happens in domestic conflict.

I'm curious - what's the typical sentence in the UK for second degree murder - if someone knows offhand?

I wonder whether any of the friends she reached out to, such as those new friends in Utah, advised her that the most dangerous time in a volatile domestic relationship is the moment when someone tries to leave that relationship - and recommended that she de-escalate the situation and wait until he was out to quietly and quickly leave.

10-14 years, reduced by half automatically.

 

[otto]

10-14 years, reduced by half automatically.

Thank you.

Reduced because he is young and can be rehabilitated? There's no reason that he would lose it again and resort to murder if he is socialized better.

Seven years is the average time in Germany if I recall correctly. In Canada it's 10, but reduced by twice the time of incarceration pre-trial. That can shave 2-3 years off a sentence for second degree domestic crime of passion.

 

[otto]

"I can see a complete life's time

Pictures and posters of times and fashion

19 years with no reason and rhyme

Taken away in a crime of passion."

This old song is never out of date
My Mum is a fan of Mike Oldfield.

That's a great visual of what this young man is facing.

 

[otto]

Did anyone she spoke to tell her to quiet him down, or were they saying "you gotta get out of there!" I'm curious, because telling her to escape when she couldn't would obviously aggravate the situation.

Was he working? Was he away from the home at regular times? I'm curious. Did they spend from November - February together with no work and no income?

If he was away at regular time for work, and it was a volatile relationship that she needed to escape, why didn't she wait until he was out? Why didn't she go along with that "control" that she experienced for 3 months until he was out of the house? Why was she on the phone with family when she was murdered?

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

Thank you.

Reduced because he is young and can be rehabilitated? There's no reason that he would lose it again and resort to murder if he is socialized better.

Seven years is the average time in Germany if I recall correctly. In Canada it's 10, but reduced by twice the time of incarceration pre-trial. That can shave 2-3 years off a sentence for second degree domestic crime of passion.

The reduction is automatic. On all prison sentences in the UK, except full life tariffs. Though that ‘discount’ can be reversed once the prisoner is locked up for bad behaviour etc.

 

[Rusty Braincells]

There is no crime of “second degree” murder in this jurisdiction, although the circumstances of the offence will customarily be taken into account in the minimum tariff in a life sentence, which is set for all murder offences.

That minimum tariff is not reduced by half (or at all) and there is no guarantee of being released once it has been served. It is also typically much longer than 10-14 years these days.

 

[ApparentlyInDenial]

There is no crime of “second degree” murder in this jurisdiction, although the circumstances of the offence will customarily be taken into account in the minimum tariff in a life sentence, which is set for all murder offences.

That minimum tariff is not reduced by half (or at all) and there is no guarantee of being released once it has been served. It is also typically much longer than 10-14 years these days.

RELEASE FROM CUSTODIAL SENTENCES — Defence-Barrister.co.uk

"Defendants who receive determinate sentences of over 2 years will be automatically released after serving half of their sentence and the remaining half is served on licence in the community."

The equivalent to second-degree murder in the UK would be murder with these mitigating factors:

- an intention to cause serious bodily harm rather than to kill;
- lack of premeditation;

Which would usually get the low end of the 15-30 year sentencing scale for murders: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-Murder-sentencing-leaflet-for-web1.pdf.

We ought to reform murder sentencing in the UK, IMO.

 

[Rusty Braincells]

The minimum tariff on a life sentence is just that, as the PDF link you’ve provided from the Sentencing Council indicates. It is not reduced by half (or by any amount), automatically or otherwise, unless an appeal on the minimum term is successful. It is not the same as where determinate sentences are reduced.

It is a common misconception that the reducing to half applies on a minimum term for a life sentence given for murder. It does not. That also means that 15 years is roundabout the minimum for a life sentence now, not 10-14.

 

[Jealoushe]

A lot of misconceptions about why people get tattoos here. Some of us just like the artwork.

 

[Dotta]

A lot of misconceptions about why people get tattoos here. Some of us just like the artwork.

It is good to hear other arguments.
That is why forums exist