Background
The jailing of M.T.’s mentally disturbed ex-partner for making violent threats against her and her infant daughter, V.T., should have brought an end to their terrifying ordeal. The Croatian courts ordered the man to undergo psychiatric treatment.
But just weeks after being released from prison, he shot and killed M.T. and her daughter, and then committed suicide by turning the gun on himself.
It later emerged that the man had seen the prison doctor just five times while serving his sentence, and only because of other unrelated illnesses. He had not undergone any psychiatric or psychotherapeutic treatment. Before he was jailed, psychiatrists had warned of a “strong likelihood” that the man would repeat the same or similar criminal offences if he was not given treatment.
Relatives of M.T. and V.T. decided to take a case to Strasbourg after the Croatian authorities ignored their complaint alleging failures to protect their loved ones and to investigate the circumstances surrounding their deaths.