Self-confessed Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik showed no signs of being psychotic while in custody, a Norwegian court was told Monday, dpa reported.
Psychiatrist Arnhild Flikke and clinical psychologist Eirik Johannesen who have regularly assessed Breivik while he was in custody said they believed Breivik was sane and accountable.
Breivik, 33, has confessed to killing 77 people in July 22 bombing and shooting attacks, but has pleaded not guilty.
At the centre of the trial at the Oslo District court is whether Breivik will be found accountable for his actions, with two court-appointed psychiatric teams offering conflicting assessments.
"He has created an identity to convince other far-right extremists and fascists, but this does not really gel with who he is. But it (the identity) is not psychotic," said Johannesen.
Johannesen and psychiatrist Arnhild Flikke were summoned by the defence as was psychiatrist Maria Sigurjonsdottir, who led a team that observed Breivik round the clock for three weeks in March.
The observation was ordered as part of the second assessment commissioned by the court that said it wanted a second opinion.
The 18 team members had not read the first psychiatric assessment that concluded Breivik was legally insane, she said.
At a concluding meeting with the team, she recalled how they held a secret vote where "16 of the team members said he had no psychotic symptoms or a psychosis, while one was uncertain."
"If we had reached the conclusion he was suffering from a psychosis it would have been my duty to inform the court-appointed experts and the health team at the Isla Prison so that he would get treatment," Sigurjonsdottir said.
She said Breivik appeared aware of what was happening around him and was "focused, organized and always spoke coherently."
Earlier, Flikke said she was "surprised" over the findings of a team that said Breivik suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
The teams that have made the psychiatric assessments are this week to take the stand. The trial is due to run until June 22.
In comments to the court, Breivik said his "lack of emotion" was because "I don't show mercy or empathy for communists, but do so for nationalists and those who share my world view."