Chef seeking treatment over thefts

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has said he will start psychiatric treatment following his arrest for shoplifting cheese and wine from Tesco.

Celebrity Chef - I will seek treatment

The Ready Steady Cook star said he had been racking his brains to work out why he did it but was at a loss to explain his behaviour.

"There is absolutely no reason," he told the Daily Express. "I'm totally embarrassed, apologetic and gutted for my family and friends."

The 60-year-old, who is a food writer for the newspaper, said he wondered whether he had taken the items as a cry for help after being under "incredible stress".

He said: "We've moved home, which is stressful and it means I have to take two hours of every day driving to the restaurant and back. But I can't really blame that. There have been other things, including the funerals of a couple of close friends. I've had health problems too and have given up smoking and I've been anaemic so I'm more tired than usual.

"I'm here (at the restaurant) pretty much every opening hour. I'm 60 years old and it is incredibly tiring. I probably shouldn't do 12-hour days. And I didn't have any time off over Christmas when these things happened."

But he insisted he did not really want to blame his actions on stress.

There had been "massive trauma" in his life and he was abused as a child, he said, but he accepted that he could not blame his childhood for his conduct either. He also denied the problem was kleptomania and said he did not do it for the thrill of it.

"I just don't know what was going on in my head," he said. "It's like a little devil sitting at my shoulder or something. Normally I'm a strong guy but something's made me snap and I just don't know what. I hope I can get over this with some help."

He added that he hoped a psychoanalyst would help him discover what sent him "over the edge" and said he expected to be severely criticised for his conduct. "I hope I'm not going totally gaga in my old age," he continued. "I have wondered whether it's something like that but I hope 60 is too young for something like Alzheimer's."

©Press Association 2012

LAWYERS WARN OVER MEDIATION PLANS

Government plans to focus so heavily on mediation when couples separate will punish those with abusive or uncooperative partners, lawyers warned today.

Resolution, which represents 6,000 family lawyers and professionals, said mediation could be inappropriate in as many as two in five cases.

Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly has said the process of separation and decisions about future arrangements for children could be made simpler if families chose mediation.

But this would have been unsuitable in 5,416 of the 13,315 legal aid cases (41%) involving the association's members, Resolution said.

David Allison, the group's chairman, said: "The organisation welcomes the Government's desire to see fewer family cases going through the court system.

"However, there needs to be support for those for whom mediation is inappropriate, which, according to the survey, could be in as many as 40% of cases.

"We are concerned that, by focusing so heavily on mediation, the Government will punish those for whom it simply won't work through no fault of their own - for example, if they have an abusive or uncooperative partner."

Resolution: Mediation will  punish those with an abusive partner?

Speaking as the £350 million-a-year cuts outlined in the Government's Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill are expected to face fierce opposition in the Lords, he added: "It is clear that the Government's proposed legal aid cuts could bring devastating consequences.

"The changes also risk increasing the nation's benefits bill. Many of our members say that the majority of their clients would not know what financial settlement they are entitled to, which could see them left dependent on the welfare state and benefits."

Under the planned reforms, 600,000 people will no longer receive legal aid, 68,000 children will be affected by the removal of legal aid in family cases, 54,000 fewer people will be represented in the family courts annually and 75% of existing private family law cases will no longer attract legal aid, campaigners have said.

Measures being introduced in the Bill would also see more people going to court on their own without legal representation, a move senior judges have warned could increase both costs and delays.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "At more than £2 billion a year we have one of the most expensive legal aid systems in the world which has grown to encourage lengthy, acrimonious and sometimes unnecessary court proceedings at taxpayers' expense.

"We know that there are cases which are not suitable for mediation, particularly serious cases involving domestic violence, child abuse or child abduction and forced marriage, and we will ensure that legal aid will continue to be routinely available to those who need it most.

"However, it is not fair that the taxpayer should foot the bill when couples decide to part.

"If people are unable or unwilling to mediate they have the option to go to court but may have to pay to do so - and we have extended the powers for courts to require one party to pay towards the other's legal bills when they have the means to fund it."