Throughout the 1990s, there had been concern in the UK about the number of homicides carried out by people with severe mental health problems. The frequency of homicides was alleged to be increasing but analysis of official data showed the opposite; homicides had been reducing at the rate of 3 per cent per annum over many years. The Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) legislation and richly funded associated ‘treatment’ programme were introduced in the late 1990s by the then Labour government and aimed at the use of a contrived psychiatric ‘diagnosis’ and ‘treatment’ to enhance public protection. The exact origin of the concept of the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) programme remains an enigma but Jack Straw, secretary of state for the Home Office, and his Department played the leading role. The programme started at HMP Whitemoor and Broadmoor Hospital in 2001 and subsequently extended to HMP Frankland in County Durham. The initial cost was £128 million, with operational costs amounting to £40 million per annum, and by 2010 had cost £480 million in total. The legislation and ‘treatment’ programme were vigorously opposed by the Mental Health Alliance.