Violence Antidepressants 14/09/2009 England Man Convicted of Knifing Friend: Has No Memory of Incident Summary:

Last paragraph reads:  "He said:  'He was prescribed anti-depressants following the break-up of his relationship. All of these matters came to a head on the night of this offence. For the first time in six to eight months, he started drinking again."

"It was a jovial affair, a party. His tolerance levels for alcohol were greatly diminished. It explains, in part, he has very little recollection of events. Police on arrival found him incoherent and unsteady on his feet, and he was taken to hospital because of the condition he was in."

SSRI Stories Note:  The Physicians Desk Reference states that
antidepressants can cause a craving for alcohol and alcohol abuse.  Also, the liver cannot metabolize the antidepressant and the alcohol simultaneously,  thus leading to higher levels of both alcohol and the antidepressant in the human body.  



http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Clifton-house-guest-strangled-threatened/article-1334903-detail/article.html


Clifton house guest strangled and threatened

Monday, September 14, 2009, 07:00

A WOMAN was told she would be disfigured and killed by a knife-wielding friend who got drunk at a family party.

Marcus Musson held a blade to Karen Savage and strangled her until she lost consciousness.

When he fell asleep, she escaped to the safety of her mum's home and called police.

After Musson was arrested, he said he could not remember what happened.

At Nottingham Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, and received two years and three months in prison.

Three months of the sentence was because he breached a 180-day sentence, suspended for 12 months, for battery on another woman previously sharing his home.

Judge Dudley Bennett said: "For a decade now you have been using violence in one away or another on anyone who stands in your way.

"You grabbed hold of this woman by her hair and pulled her through from one room to another by her hair. If that stood alone, it is a pretty horrible thing to do. Then you got a knife and held it to her chin and threatened to disfigure her.

"Knives kill, I keep saying this. Mercifully, she did not suffer any injuries as a result of that. You then cut her hair off in great clumps. That is a disfigurement. It's dreadful. There you are using that knife on her. Then you strangle her to the point she loses consciousness. Then you head-butt her and cut her skin."

Miss Savage had known 37-year-old Musson for years and stayed on and off with him in the weeks leading up to the attack because of problems with her accommodation.

After a family party in Clifton on Valentine's Day, Musson accused her of trying to make advances towards one of her guests.

Miss Savage, who was not in a relationship with Musson, told him it had nothing to do with him.

"He reached over, grabbed her hair and twisted it around his hand and pulled her by her hair into the kitchen and pushed her into a corner," said Jon Fountain, prosecuting.

"He got a knife, put it to her chin, then against her cheek and said, 'I'm going to kill you. No-one will look at you when I have finished'."

Closing her eyes and fearing the worst, Musson hacked at her hair and threw large clumps to the floor.

He tried to choke her and said "it's because I love you" before head-butting her.

Musson, now of HMP Nottingham, threw down the knife and went to sleep on the sofa.

Miss Savage fled barefoot from the house to her mother's home. She had cuts to her scalp and pain to her ribs.

Musson's previous convictions include assaulting police, using threatening words and behaviour, affray and common assault.

Mitigating, Adrian Langdale told the court Musson had been drinking 10 to 15 cans of alcohol a day, but had stopped before this assault.

He said: "He was prescribed anti-depressants following the break-up of his relationship. All of these matters came to a head on the night of this offence. For the first time in six to eight months, he started drinking again.

"It was a jovial affair, a party. His tolerance levels for alcohol were greatly diminished. It explains, in part, he has very little recollection of events. Police on arrival found him incoherent and unsteady on his feet, and he was taken to hospital because of the condition he was in."

rebecca.sherdley@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk