The mental health trust serving Brighton and Hove has commissioned an independent review of killings involving patients over five years.
The review, on behalf of the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will look at 10 cases, including Janet Muller, who was killed last year shortly after leaving Mill View Hospital in Hove.
It is also believed to include other Brighton and Hove cases such as
- Stephen Dunne, who stabbed his former housemate Gordon Stalker to death
- Graeme Morris, who killed his parents
- Sean Iran, from Portslade, who killed Stefan Welch over a drugs debt
- Oliver Parsons, who stabbed Joe Lewis to death during a Christmas Day drink and drugs binge
- David Sole, who battered a disabled man to death
- Roger Goswell, who was treated in Hove shortly before he killed his wife and himself
The trust commissioned the review after the conviction of a patient Matthew Daley, who was convicted of the manslaughter of a retired solicitor Donald Lock at Lewes Crown Court yesterday (Monday 16 May).
The jury found that Daley, 35, was guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
After the case the trust repeated its apology for shortcomings in Daley’s care.
The jury was told that Daley’s family had asked doctors to “section” him, fearing that he presented a danger to others, but their concerns were ignored.
Trust chief executive Colm Donaghy said: “On behalf of the trust, I apologise unreservedly because the care we provided to Matthew Daley should have been better.
“I also want to offer my sincere condolences to the family of Don Lock and everyone else affected by this tragic, devastating incident.
“Mr Daley was referred to our services in January 2008. He received treatment from our early intervention service, which helps people who are starting to experience the symptoms of psychosis.
“He was later transferred to the care of one of our community mental health teams where he received treatment for a combination of Asperger’s syndrome (a form of autism) and psychosis.
“Having reviewed his care, it’s clear that we should have reviewed Mr Daley’s diagnosis, looked at other ways of providing treatment, done more to help him manage his symptoms of psychosis and listened to his family more closely.
“We got things wrong. But I do not believe that any of our staff acted in a way which was deliberately negligent or designed to cause harm.
“They knew Mr Daley well and believed they were doing the right things to help him. We will do things differently as a result of this tragic incident.
“The care and treatment we provided will now be subject to an independent inquiry commissioned by NHS England.
“In the meantime, we have commissioned our own independent review, jointly with NHS England, of all homicides from 2011 to 2016 involving patients known to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
“We have done this because we want the public, people who use our services and the organisations which commission them to be assured that we have done everything we should have in response to these tragic cases.
“We will publish this report in full.”
The ten cases under review involve
- Matthew Daley
- Janet Muller
- Stephen Dunne
- Graham Morris
- Sean Iran
- Oliver Parsons
- David Sole
- Roger Goswell
- Kayden Smith
- Shane Noble
