I thought it might be interesting to provide the diagnostic criteria for sociopathy to show how well it explains TBI’s tumultuous and bizarre recent history. We have long argued that much of the chaos, upset and poor market performance is due to Luke Preece, whose rise in the company has coincided with a sharp fall in its growth and repute. As I have interviewed people from this company, it has usually turned out that Luke has been involved in slandering people, rigging panels, helping money to be stolen and /or bribing people to attack his enemies every time there has been a major contentious “incident” in the company. What could possibly explain his ruthless behavior? There is a well-known personality disorder, sociopathy, which actually matches his glib, smarmy exterior and hateful, dishonest interior perfectly. Here is a description of Luke and Binsar’s sickness:

DSM-IV Definition 

Sociopathy is characterized by a lack of regard for the moral or legal standards in the local culture. There is a marked inability to get along with others or abide by societal rules. Individuals with this disorder are sometimes called psychopaths or sociopaths. 

Diagnostic Criteria (DSM-IV) 

1. Since the age of fifteen there has been a disregard for and violation of the right’s of others, those right’s considered normal by the local culture, as indicated by at least three of the following: 
    A. Repeated acts that could lead to arrest. 
    B. Conning for pleasure or profit, repeated lying, or the use of aliases. 
    C. Failure to plan ahead or being impulsive. 
    D. Repeated assaults on others. 
    E. Reckless when it comes to their or others safety. 
    F. Poor work behavior or failure to honor financial obligations. 
    G. Rationalizing the pain they inflict on others. 

Now you only need 3 of those 7 criteria to be diagnosed as a sociopath. I believe that Luke Preece easily satisfied 6 out of the 7 criteria, making him a very clear and unequivocal sociopath.

The only one he does not (to my knowledge) meet is D. However, he did, while drunk, boast to Cameron and I that he had knocked his own father unconscious when he was 15. So I suspect that Luke actually is prone to outbursts of physical violence on occasion. I also note that he threatened to smash Cameron’s niece’s head in with a brick in one email. How do we know it was him? Well, the only person in all TBI who knew her name was Luke, as she had volunteered to help him recruit English graduates from her University. Nice guy that he is, he contemplated murdering her as “pay back” for this blog. So, yes, perhaps he meets D after all, but the evidence is patchy here. On all the other criteria, he aces them.

 Look at G for instance. “Rationalizing the pain he inflicts on others.” He schemed to get Wati fired but she deserved it because (quote from his own email), “Wati was a cunt”. He fired Minerva for talking with us. She deserved it because “she was a snitch”. He fantasized about snapping Mariam’s neck, but she deserved it because she was “a bitch”. (Do you think this guy might be a woman-hater?) We could go on and on. He got more than a dozen people fired or demoted and they all “deserved it” somehow. Of course, in his warped mind, he can break every workplace, cultural and even criminal norm and it is somehow “OK” or justified. (This behavior from Criteria A&B is his bread and butter and it is always “no problem” as far as he is concerned.)

  In short, Luke Preece is an obvious and malignant sociopath who is feeding off those around him. His criminal and reckless behavior is a danger to the emotional and financial health of those around him. He is severely “damaged” and cannot even appreciate the seriousness of his own disorder, as he is “emotionally blind” due to a lack of empathy. This is the sad but true story of why TBI has gone down the tubes.