I thought the sentence sounded a bit feeble, given that the man doesn't exactly sound mentally capble of "confronting" his problems on his own. But having looked it up, the critical point not explained by the paper is that being unfit to plead affects the sentencing options, e.g. he doesn't have the option of a fine. The community order includes a requirement for compulsary mental health treatment, but conducted in the community, rather than compulsary detention in hospital, so more than a slap on the wrist - and given the chronic under-funding of mental hospitals, I wouldn't be surprised if it weren't more effective.

Re. current discussions, as someone says on the LJ crosspost the paper's use of "admitted" is not a good choice - with that replaced with something more neutral like "stated", I think the woman's account becomes more simply discriptive and less-self-blaming ("I said hello, like you do" rather than "I said hello, I shouldn't have").

I would say that it is gratifying to have been proved right over recent years that George Galloway is an egomaniacal scumbag, but alas it isn't gratifying enough.