Swanson homicide: James Yates, who stabbed uncle David Yates to death, to stay at psych unit long-term

Police were called to Candia Rd in Swanson on the morning of Saturday, November 13, 2021. Photo / Hayden Woodward

A man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity after stabbing his uncle to death in West Auckland had heard voices in the past, but he dismissed them as a symptom of his cannabis use and was reluctant to be treated for schizophrenia.

That reluctance was one of the reasons that Justice Geoffrey Venning ordered today that James Robert Yates, 33, be held indefinitely at the Mason Clinic lockdown psychiatric facility as a “special patient” - the most restrictive mental health treatment allowed under the law.

Yates had been living with his father and uncle at a property in Swanson for over a decade when he violently attacked his uncle, David Keith Yates, in November 2021. The elder Yates was beaten, stabbed 56 times with a kitchen knife and suffered a neck fracture, which appeared to be the result of having been stood on.

James Yates left the home that night and was missing for 36 hours until he returned. He later admitted the killing to police and medical staff.

Since then, his symptoms seem to have gone into abeyance with the help of psychiatric medication, the judge noted today as he weighed the options for Yates’ future. However, relapse is possible outside the lockdown facility due to his continuing lack of insight into his condition, Venning said.

“He poses a continuing risk in the absence of a very structured environment,” he explained.

Yates watched the High Court at Auckland hearing today via audio-visual feed from the Mason Clinic, where he wore a hoodie and a beanie while sitting next to several staff members.

He had been set to go to trial for murder three months ago, but the trial was cancelled at the last minute after prosecutors and his lawyer reached an agreement about his mental health based on three psychological reports. Each report concluded he was insane at the time of the killing, his mind so disordered that he was unable to tell right from wrong. His schizophrenia had manifested in voices that told him to kill his uncle, the reports found.

Justice Grant Powell, who was set to oversee the trial, instead deemed him not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

Today’s follow-up disposition hearing had several potential outcomes. Options included:

• that he be held at the Mason Clinic indefinitely as a “special patient” under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act, eligible for release only if authorised by the Minister of Health,
• that he stay at the Mason Clinic instead as a “special care recipient” under the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act, which would allow for his release when his clinicians think it is safe,
• or a less restrictive option such as immediate release from the facility with community-based mental health treatment.

Justice Venning noted today that as a special patient, Mason Clinic staff would be able to direct where he lives when eventually reintegrated into the community and would have the authority to call him back to the unit if his mental health appeared to decline again. They’d also have the ability to make sure he continues taking his medication. His clinicians would not have such authority after release if he was instead deemed a special care recipient.

“It would also be in Mr Yates’ best interests,” Venning said of the special patient status. “There will be a focus on the necessary treatment.”

Yates first showed signs of mental health issues in 2015. In January 2020, in the midst of a major depressive episode, his first formal psychiatric assessment resulted in diagnoses of cannabis and methamphetamine use disorder and schizophrenia. He had experienced auditory hallucinations in the past but attributed them to his illegal drug use and “couldn’t appreciate the rationale of the treatments” for schizophrenia, the judge noted.

Yates was found fit to stand trial in March 2022, but a fitness finding is a separate evaluation under the law than an insanity defence. In addition to the three psychological reports relied upon for the insanity finding, another report was prepared for today’s hearing recommending that he be deemed a special patient.

Neither prosecutor Emma Kerr nor defence lawyer Nicholas Wintour disputed the recommendation.

Several members of the patient’s family attended today’s hearing, in a dual role as supporter and victim. His father submitted a victim impact statement to the judge but asked that it not be read aloud in open court.

Justice Venning twice acknowledged the family’s presence, apologetic that the criminal justice and mental health process is so drawn out in cases such as Yates’.

“It is hoped today at least brings some closure,” he said.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.