THE medical community has condemned the Church of Scientology for its "harmful" views on the treatment of mental illnesses following an alleged double murder by a woman who claims she was denied psychological drugs because of religious beliefs. The woman, who is charged with murdering her father and young sister, was allegedly denied the treatment by her parents because of their Scientology beliefs, a Sydney court heard on Monday. Scientology rejects psychiatry and psychology as means for treating mental illness. The ...

SCIENTOLOGISTS were condemned yesterday as "flat-earthers", following statements in court that an alleged murderer was denied psychiatric treatment because of her family's Scientologist beliefs. The vice-president of the Australian Church of Scientology, Cyrus Brooks, told ABC radio the Scientology link to the killings was "a bit of a red herring". "The woman was actually under the drugs; she was on drugs at the time of the incident. She was also under the care of a psychiatrist … since January," Mr Brooks ...

ARTHUR and Lawana Beals knew their son Gary was in trouble. He had been tormented for years by voices in his head but he had always shunned their advice to seek psychiatric care. On March 15, 1989, the 32-year-old broke. Grabbing a butcher knife, he stabbed Lawana before turning the knife on Arthur. Bleeding from her injuries, Mrs Beals tried to defend her husband before fleeing the house and calling police. Arthur Beals was dead by the time authorities arrived. Three ...

A woman accused of killing her father and sister and injuring her mother was denied psychiatric treatment by her parents who were Scientologists, a court heard yesterday. They declined the treatment after the 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, was diagnosed with a psychotic illness last year and instead gave her medication they got from America. Dr Mark Cross, consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of the Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Services, said it was not "psychiatric in nature". The woman, ...

A SYDNEY woman accused of the stabbing murders of her father and sister was allegedly denied psychiatric treatment last year because of her parents' Scientology beliefs. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in Sydney's Bankstown Local Court yesterday, charged over the murders at her family home in Revesby in the city's southwest last Thursday. The woman has also been charged with committing grievous bodily harm on her 52-year-old mother, who ran to a neighbour's house and raised the ...

THE Church of Scientology last night denied the Sydney man who was allegedly stabbed to death by his psychotic daughter after refusing her psychiatric drugs was a top recruiter for the church. A man with the same name as the dead father is listed on the Church of Scientology's "Honour Roll" in the 2002 Impact magazine which glorifies members worldwide for their efforts in "signing more than 20 members to the church" or for donating $US20,000 ($23,200) or more. The man's ...

Scientologists were condemned today as "flat earthers", following revelations in court that an alleged murderer was denied psychiatric treatment due to her family's Scientologist beliefs. Speaking on ABC Radio, Australian Church of Scientology vice-president Cyrus Brooks said the Scientology link to the killings was "a bit of a red herring". "The woman was actually under the drugs, she was on drugs at the time of the incident. She was also under the care of a psychiatrist ... since January," he said. ...

THE young woman needed psychiatric care, and she knew it. She tried to get help twice, but her Scientologist parents had a religious objection to psychiatric intervention. They denied her the treatment she wanted, then dosed the 25-year-old with their own medicine, specially imported from the US. Finally, as her mental health worsened three weeks ago, they crumbled and let her take anti-psychotic drugs she had been prescribed. But it was too late. The unfolding tragedy came to its bloody head ...

A WOMAN charged with murdering her father and sister was allegedly forced to stop taking psychiatric drugs by her family because of their Church of Scientology beliefs. Bankstown Local Court heard yesterday the woman's parents asked her to stop taking the drugs and denied her access to mental health treatment because it went against the controversial church's anti-drugs stance. The woman, 25, faced court yesterday charged with the stabbing murders of her father, 53, and sister, 15, in their Revesby home ...

THE Church of Scientology last night denied the Sydney man who was allegedly stabbed to death by his psychotic daughter after refusing her psychiatric drugs was a top recruiter for the church. A man with the same name as the dead father is listed on the Church of Scientology's "Honor Roll" in the 2002 Impact magazine which glorifies members worldwide for their efforts in "signing more than 20 members to the church" or for donating $US20,000 or more. The man's daughter, ...

The parents of a woman accused of murdering her father and sister apparently declined psychiatric treatment for her last year because of their Scientology beliefs, a report tendered in court states. And a police version of events tendered to the court outlined the nightmarish scenario faced by the family's neighbours following the alleged murders. The psychiatric report on the 25-year-old woman, who is also charged with committing grievous bodily harm on her mother at Revesby in Sydney's west last Thursday, was ...

A SYDNEY woman accused of fatally stabbing her father, sister and injuring her mother was denied psychiatric treatment by her parents who were Scientologists, a court was told today. The 24-year-old woman, who cannot be named, was diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 and recommended follow-up treatment at Bankstown Hospital, in Sydney's south-west. Dr Mark Cross, the consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Services, said the woman's parents refused this treatment. “She had a ...

The controversial Church of Scientology likens modern mental health drugs to torture and lobotomies. The church's opposition to psychiatric drugs became central to a brutal murder case in Sydney on Monday when it was alleged in court that a 25-year-old woman charged with stabbing her father and sister to death and seriously injuring her mother was denied mental health treatment because of her parents' belief in scientology. Bankstown Local Court was told the woman had been diagnosed with a psychotic illness ...

VICTORIA'S Scientology population has almost doubled in a decade, figures reveal. There are 629 Scientologists in Victoria, compared with 324 in 1996. Census data prepared for the Herald Sun shows that Melbourne's Yarra Ranges and Whitehorse areas are the state's Scientology capitals. Australia-wide, there were 2507 Scientologists in 2006, up from 1489 a decade ago. Experts say the religion's popularity is in line with the growth of other alternative religions and has been boosted significantly by Scientology's celebrity links. High-profile Scientologists ...

A Sydney woman accused of fatally stabbing her father, sister and injuring her mother was denied psychiatric treatment by her parents who were Scientologists, a court was told today. The 24-year-old woman, who cannot be named, was diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 and recommended follow-up treatment at Bankstown Hospital, in Sydney's southwest. Dr Mark Cross, the consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Services, said the woman's parents refused this treatment. "She had a ...

A SYDNEY woman charged with murdering her father and sister and seriously injuring her mother was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' alleged Scientology beliefs, a court has been told. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in Bankstown Local Court today charged over the stabbing attacks at her family home in Revesby in Sydney's south-west last Thursday. She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her legal aid lawyer Wade Bloomfield ...

A young woman charged with the stabbing deaths of her father and teenage sister will face court on Monday in Sydney's south-west. The 25-year-old had been under police guard at Liverpool Hospital since the incident in Revesby Heights on Thursday. Police were called to Hydrae Street after reports of an altercation, finding the bodies of a 53-year-old man and 15-year-old girl inside a home. A 52-year-old woman, who was found at a neighbouring house, remained in a serious but stable condition ...

Sydney — An Australian woman accused of murdering her father and sister was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' Scientology beliefs, a court heard on Monday. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in court on Monday to be charged for the stabbing attacks at her family home in a Sydney suburb, the Australian Associated Press reported. She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her lawyer Wade Bloomfield told the court. ...

STABBING victim Kathryn Walicki, 15, loved her sister Linda "with all her heart", a family friend said yesterday. A touching tribute to Kathryn, who was killed along with the girl's father Michael, 52, at their Revesby home on Wednesday, described her as a "beautiful and gorgeous girl" who loved her family above all else. "She loved Linda with all her heart and it upset her like nothing else to see her in her condition," Bethany Derley said. Linda, 25, and Kathryn's ...

IT WAS a picture of suburban harmony on a sunny afternoon: two neighbours, a man and a woman, both mowing their front lawns in a leafy part of Revesby. But in a horrific few minutes, order turned to chaos, leaving two members of a family dead, one seriously injured and another under arrest. As he mowed on Thursday, a man heard trouble next door. Soon his neighbour staggered into his yard with stab wounds to her stomach and back, crying for ...

A woman walked to her neighbour's house in a quiet area of Revesby yesterday afternoon covered in blood and believed to have been stabbed in the chest. The woman had fled a crime scene and was asking her neighbours to call police. Officers arrived at an address on Hydrae Street soon after, about 4pm, and found an unspeakable scene. The woman's husband and teenage daughter had been stabbed to death. Another of the woman's daughters was wandering nearby streets, covered in ...

WITH the Packer wedding over — and guest Tom Cruise embrolied in a "religious" controversy — Scientology is once again on the agenda, writes Jill Singer. SCIENTOLOGY is being talked about again because of certain prominent supporters. Germany is reluctant to have Scientology's most famous adherent, Tom Cruise, play one of its country's greatest heroes. Valkyrie, the planned film, centres on Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's heroic role in attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The problem for Cruise is that Germany is ...

Scientology is trying to transform its image from that of a shadowy cult When Scientology officially opened its spectacular new British church in the Square Mile, the movement was given an unusually warm embrace by the Establishment. Ian Luder, an Alderman of the Corporation of London and a magistrate, lauded the organisation’s anti-drugs efforts. “The work which you do in this area is greatly to be welcomed,” he said, “and I wish you growing success.” It was a satisfying moment for ...

THE INLAND Revenue is being asked to investigate why British Scientologists are refusing to pay a tax on the grounds they do charitable work — even though the controversial religion has been refused charitable status. Scientology, which came under fierce attack on the BBC last week, was denied the special status by the Charity Commission eight years ago. In a 49-page landmark ruling, commissioners said the church had not demonstrated it was “established for the public benefit as to satisfy the ...

SCIENTOLOGY, the religion of stars such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kate Ceberano, is growing so fast the church wants to add four floors to its Sydney headquarters. The Church of Scientology has lodged a development application with City of Sydney Council for a glass-fronted tower on the roof of its heritage building on Castlereagh Street. A giant Scientology cross will top the building, dwarfing the rather run-down, historic sandstone 1859 St George's Presbyterian Church next door. "We have been ...

A HUMAN rights youth forum at Parliament House in Sydney promoted the views of the Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and was organised by a group linked to the Church of Scientology. In a kit given to students, Hubbard's photograph was more prominent than those of the human rights activists Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Thomas Jefferson. Hubbard's quotes were littered through the material. The Church of Scientology is the major sponsor of Youth for Human Rights Australia, ...

Should media mogul James Packer and fiancee, model Erica Baxter, ever face the strains that occasionally crop up in marriage, their key marital aid may be a device with steel cylinders held in each hand, attached by wires to a screen with dials and meters. It's the electropsychometer, or E-meter, and it's one element of a church with which Packer and Baxter are flirting: Scientology. While he hasn't talked about it much, the man who is inheriting a $7 billion fortune ...

MEMBERS of the Church of Scientology have reportedly been removed from a Gippsland staging ground where Country Fire Authority firefighters and crews have been recovering. Members of the church were escorted by police from the Heyfield staging ground, locals said. But a church representative denied the report, saying church members had been helping out in the staging area for three days before leaving late last week at the request of the CFA. Police were unavailable to comment. Scientology groups, comprised largely ...