Consultant aware of Gibbs’ condition

LYNN GIBBS was aware of her own vulnerability to stress and took steps in her professional life to avoid it.

Dr Cleo Van Velsen, a London-based consultant psychiatrist who examined Gibbs before the trial, said she was content to work as a locum rather than take a staff job, avoided managerial responsibility and, by her own admission, did not see difficult patients.

Similar evidence was given by Dr Tom Fahy, another London-based psychiatrist who was also asked to carry out an independent assessment, and said Gibbs had developed an ability to “compartmentalise” problems, putting each one in a drawer and leaving it aside.