98 known cases 1993 – 2022

58 inquiry reports

In addition to the individual homicide inquiry reports available here, in May 2008 NHS North East published a review of all local mental health homicides between January 2002 and May 2008.

They found 36 mental health homicides occurred in the area during that time

By contrast only 13 cases have been found in press reports for the same period (involving 17 victims).

The review is available on the health authority’s website at: http://www.northeast.nhs.uk/_assets/media/pdf/NE08_184(1).pdf

Date	Victim	Location	Event	Comment	download
23 Dec 2022	Lee Santos	North Shields	Mentally disordered man repeatedly and fatally stabbed a stranger	Not guilty by reason of insanity – Epilepsy psychosis case
14 Nov 2022	Beimnet Gebreab	Newcastle	Mentally ill man repeatedly and fatally stabbed housemate	Diminished responsibility – Hospital order
13 Apr 2022	Michael Matthews	Hadrian Clinic, Newcastle	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally batters and stamps on vulnerable fellow patient	Off meds – Diminished responsibility – Section 37/41 hospital order	Sentencing Remarks
15 Mar 2022	Anthony Dunn (81)	Ponteland	Mentally disordered woman fatally smothers husband	Diminished responsibility
19 Mar 2020	Christopher Ritchie	Durham	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabbed acquaintance	Diminished responsibility – indefinite hospital order
31 Dec 2019	Stacey Cooper	Redcar	Mentally ill man fatally stabbed partner	Later took his own life in prison on remand
30 Jul 2019	June Sanderson	Blyth	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally batters and strangles mother	Recent inpatient – trial of facts
06 Apr 2019	Odessa Carey (73)	Washington	Psychotic woman fatally stabs her mother and mutilates the body	Long MH history – stopped taking meds – Trial of facts	Inquiry/DHR Coroner’s PFD
31 Mar 2019	Paul Taylor	Jarrow	Mentally disordered woman fatally stabs partner	Convicted of manslaughter – 14 years	Inquiry
20 Mar 2019	Alison McKenzie	Middlesbrough	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabs mother	Off meds – long history of serious mental illness	Inquiry
05 Sept 2018	Joan Hoggett	Sunderland	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabs a grandmother	Previous inpatient – previously warned about killing someone	Inquiry Inquiry Follow Up Inquest PFD
31 Aug 2018	Richard Burgess (79)	Sunderland	Mentally ill man in hospital fatally punches fellow patient with dementia	Coroner’s PFD report highlighted poor care & risk management	Coroner’s PFD
03 Aug 2018	Kelly Franklin	Hartlepool	Mentally disordered man repeatedly and fatally stabs ex-partner	Considered so risky female staff told not to see him alone – convicted of murder	Inquiry DHR Full DHR Exec Summ
05 Mar 2018	Jason Dean	Eston, Middlesbrough	Mentally ill man fatally batters friend in sustained attack	Convicted manslaughter – sentenced 14 years	Inquiry
24 Dec 2015	Warren Duke	Slough (but Tees patient)	Mentally ill man off meds fatally stabs man	Convicted of Manslaughter by diminished reponsibility	Inquiry
15 Nov 2015	Susan Mitchelson	Blyth	Mentally ill teenager thinking he’s a demon fatally stabs dinner lady	Family raised concerns before incident	DHR Exec Summ Trust Board
23 Sept 2015	Sarrah Garba	Gateshead	Psychotic man fatally strangled his girlfriend believing she was ‘the devil’
02 Apr 2015	Zaneta Balazova	Newcastle	Paranoid schizophrenic repeatedly and fatally stabbed wife in front of children	Family raised concerns about deterioration
19-25 May 2015	Maureen Rudland	Durham	Alzheimers patient with history of aggression pushes fellow resident who subsequently died		Inquiry
15 Mar 2015	Melissa Liddle	South Shields	Mentally ill man repeatedly and fatally stabs partner
26 Jun – 5 Jul 2014	Jenny Bryant (89)	Consett	Man with dementia fatally assaults fellow care home resident	Care home had difficulties raising concerns	INQUIRY
25 Jun 2014	Sheila Crout	Newcastle upon Tyne	Depressed man fatally smothers wife
11 Feb 2014	Ray Patterson Clara Patterson (82)	Benton, N Tyneside	Schizophrenic man repeatedly and fatally stabs disabled father and grandmother
25 Jan 2014	Hamed Vaziri	Middlesborough	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabs housemate in neck and kicks him as he lays dying
15 Sept 2013	John Hall	West Rainton	MH patient fatally batters acquaintance with baseball bat		INQUIRY
13 Sep 2013	Gemma Finnegan	Bolden Colliery	Psychotic man strangled and repeatedly stabbed girlfriend	Had killed before	Full DHR DHR Summary
01 Sep 2013	James Ineson	North Shields	Schizophrenic fatally battered friend about the head
05 May 2013	Sybil Sibthorpe (80)	Darlington	Mentally disordered man fatally batters pensioner in sustained assault
01 May 2013	May Stokoe	Sunderland	Mentally ill man fatally stabs wife then himself	Had warned of harming her before, stopped meds	INQUIRY DHR  Coroner’s PFD
22 Feb 2013	Gareth Matthews	Whitby	Mentally disordered woman fatally stabs partner		DHR & Inq Report
25 Apr 2012	Julie Davison	Whitby	Mentally ill man fatally stabs stranger	Ind Inq found failings in care	INQUIRY
23 Apr 2012	Colin Dunford (81)	Middlesborough	Mentally ill man fatally attacks pensioner	Ind Inq found failings in care	INQUIRY
01 Oct 2011	Michell Harrison	HMP Frankland	Mental Health patient (PD) fatally stabs fellow prisoner	History of violence, warned MH nurse he wanted to kill.
02 May 2011	Jessica Braithwaite (7)	Redcar	Mentally ill man sets house on fire killing daughter (intended to kill entire family)	MH history
01 Mar 2011	Jordan Cooper	Washington	Mentally disordered man fatally stabs nephew		Inquiry
09 Aug 2010	Christy Ruddell (2)	Peterlee	Mentally ill mother fatally strangled son	Family had struggled to get help
01 Jan 2010	Bevin Shapung (11 mnths)	North Shields	Mentally ill woman kills baby and unsuccessfully attempts suicide	Previous MH history	SCR
11 Jun 2009	Ralph Stephenson (86)	Durham	Mentally ill man fatally strangles father	History of depression & alcohol abuse
06 Apr 2009	Karen Leonard	Middlesbrough	Psychiatric patient fatally battered strangled and stabbed partner	Prev. told nurses of fears of violent relapse	Inquiry
03 Jan 2009	Tony Petersen	Newcastle	MH patient fatally batters disabled man with claw hammer	Critical Inquiry report (Graham 2013)	Inquiry
04 Dec 2008	Williamina Valentine (84)	Newcastle	Psychotic mentally ill man fatally suffocates mother after missing medication.		Inq not published – contact us for more info
25 Jun 2008	Michelle Taylor	Walker, Newcastle	Mentally ill man fatally stabs ex-wife.
24 Jun 2008	Bertha Martin (85)	Cleadon	Mentally ill woman fatally batters mother	Previously sectioned & violent, released without aftercare. Ind Inq 2014 NHS North	Inquiry
21 Oct 2006	John Morrison	Darlington	Mentally ill man fatally strangles drinking companion	Psych evidence of mental disorder at time
09 Jul 2006	Peter Purcell Joyce Purcell Keith Purcell Glen Purcell	Benwell, Newcastle	Psychopathic former soldier executed family members	PTSD? Inq	Inquiry
19 May 2006	Ashleigh Ewing	Heaton, Newcastle	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabbed mental health worker 39 times with four knives.	Prev. attacked parents with hammer (GBH). Prev. arrested at Buck Pal threatening Queen. Refused medication, realised was danger to others.	Inquiry
12 May 2006	Carie Burns	Consett	Mentally disordered & paranoid man fatally stabs young woman with samurai sword and drives over her	Reported history of previous violence
09 May 2006	Colin Anderson	Newcastle	Recently released mentally ill man (with depressive LD accomplice) batters man and throws him off tower block.	Recently released after psychotic episode. Ind Inq due.	Inquiry
08 Jan 2006	Maurice Hilton	Peterlee	Mentally ill woman fatally stabs partner.	Long MH history, previous violence, tragic history, critical inquiry	Inquiry
28 Aug 2005	Alexander Gallon (4 months)	Newcastle	Deluded and depressed mother kills baby by arson.	Mental Health history. Serious Case Review	SCR
07 Jan 2005	Robert Carter	New Marske, Redcar	Psychiatric patient batters disabled landlord to death	Had begged to be admitted to psych hospital days before. PD
02 Dec 2004	Maria Jones	Ingleby Barwick	Depressed man fatally stabs his wife 96 times	Diminished responsibility
27 Nov 2004	Alison McNally	Gateshead	Mentally ill man fatally smothers wife	Depressive illness. Indefinite hospital order
18 Jun 2004	Lynda Lovatt	South Shields	MH patient fatally stabbed partner 40 times.	Parents had taken him to be sectioned hours earlier but released.	Inquiry
06 Feb 2004	Olive Garvie	Jesmond	Pensioner MH Homicide.	Review, previous violence. Poor teamwork.
17 Jan 2004	Colin Johnson	Sunderland	Paranoid schizophrenic kills former school friend with an axe.	long history of increasing MH problems. Family asked MH for help 83 times before incident.	Inquiry
30/31 Oct 2003	Ian Lawson Simon Richardson	Sunderland	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally and repeatedly stabbed Lawson, then fatally attacked Richardson with a Razor.	Ind Inq 2007	Inquiry
28 Aug 2003	Lee Johnson	Newcastle	Paranoid schizophrenic repeatedly stabs neighbour.	Ind Inq 2008	Inquiry
06 Aug 2003	Sarah Jane Coghlan	Middlesbrough	MH patient fatally stabs woman with bayonet (6mnths after release for previous murder).	Ind Inq 2006	Inquiry Appeal Court
13 Feb 2003	Paul Best	Easington	Mentally disordered man fatally stabs youth on 18th birthday	Learning disabilities with history of violence
07 Feb 2003	Nusrat Alrahi	Newcastle	Mentally ill man strangles wife	Receiving MH treatment – 3 yrs community order
22 Sep 2002	Elizabeth Gallagher	North Tyneside	MH patient stabbed wife.	Ind Inq 2005. Had previously threatened to kill wife.	Inquiry
17 Aug 2002	Jean Charlton (71)	Washington	Paranoid Schizophrenic man fatally stabs mother 15 times and attempts to decapitate her.
14 Dec 2001	Elizabeth Elliot (79)	Gateshead	Severely depressed pensioner fatally stabbed wife	Diminished responsibility – suspended sentence
04 Nov 2001	William Pyle (77)	Bishop Auckland	Psychotic woman repeatedly batters and stabs father and sets house alight.
22 Sep 2001	Lenny Leak	Gateshead	Fatally poured petrol over flatmate and lit it during argument.	Ind Inq 2004 – history of previous violence.	Inquiry
04 Mar 2001	David Huitson	Newcastle	Schizophrenic stabbed victim who had given evidence against him in another stabbing case.	Ind Inq 2004 – history of previous violence.	Inquiry Appeal Court
18 Jan 2001	John Jeffries	Hartlepool	MH patient fatally and repeatedly battered victim with rock.	Ind Inq 2003 – Previous threats of violence with knives.	Inquiry
27 Jun 2000	Abdul Ghafoor	Middlesbrough	MH patient attacks victim with hammer (+PD)	Ind Inq 2002
12 Apr 2000	Corey Raine (6 mths)	Houghton	Mum with post natal depression fatally batters six month old baby	Pleaded guilty to infanticide – 4 year hospital order
20 Mar 2000	Caroline Wills Ashley Wills (5)	Cramlington, North-umberland	Paranoid Schizophrenic kills sister and her son in frenzied attack.	Ind Inq 2002	Inquiry
04 Oct 1999	Janet Frost	Meadowfielsd – County Hospital Durham	MH homicide	Ind Inq 2003	Inquiry
16 Apr -16 May 1999	Julie Paterson	Darlington	Mentally disordered man kills and dismembers woman	Diminished responsibility
29 Mar 1999	Nora Denham (91)	Butterknowle	Mentally ill woman fatally strangles elderly mother	Sentenced to three year probation order
19 Mar 1998	James Byrne	Sunderland	MH Homicide	Ind Inq 1999	Inquiry
16 Dec 1997	David Turnbull	Co Durham	MH homicide	Ind Inq 2000	Inquiry
22 Jun 1997	Peter McNamee	Stockton	MH homicide of girlfriend’s ex.	Ind Inq 1999	Inquiry available on request
05 May 1997	Eric Kirby	Bishop Auckland	MH homicide of partner.	Ind Inq 2000	Inquiry
31 Oct 1996	Natalie Wood (6)	Fenham, Newcastle	Mentally ill woman kills her 6 year old daughter	Diminished responsibility
28 Jul 1996	Mark Worrall	Consett	Depressed woman fatally stabbed husband	Diminished responsibility – probation for three years
06 Jul 1995	Jamie Hemy (7 mnths)	Wallsend, Tyne &Wear	Schizophrenic woman repeatedly stabs baby 70 times.
01 Jul 1995	Eileen McLachlan	Wallsend, Tyne &Wear	Schizophrenic kills mother.	Ind Inq 1997	Inquiry
19 Jun 1995	Douglas Heathwaite	Newton Aycliffe	MH homicide of stranger.	Ind Inq 1998	Inquiry
29 May 1995	Halina Szymczuk	Ashington, North-umberland	Mentally ill man fatally stabbed neighbour (murdering Mother-in law 1976).	Ind Inq 1996	Inquiry
16 Feb 1995	William Taylor (74)	Cleveland	Psychotic MH patient fatally stabs father.	Ind Inq 1996	Inquiry
23 Jul 1994	Robert Keating-Payne	Newcastle	Mentally disordered man fatally battered and stabbed man with razors, craft knives & a screwdriver
30 Jun 1994	Rosie Palmer (3)	Hartlepool	MH patient abused, killed and kept 3 year old victims body in plastic bag at home.	Ind Inq 1996	Inquiry
28 Mar 1994	Nickki Conroy (12)	Middlesbrough	Psychotic man breaks into school and repeatedly and fatally stabs girl.
18 Aug 1993	Thomas Palmer	South Stanley	Mentally disordered man fatally batters acquaintance with cricket bat, takes him home in pushchair, then sets body on fire	Diminished responsibility – jailed for life
04 July 1993	Emily Lucas	Seaham	Psychotic man fatally stabs woman mistakenly thinking it was his girlfriend	Diminished responsibility
29 May 1993	Emma Hutchinson (5)	Sunderland	Depressed mother killed young daughter after setting fire to their home
16 Mar 1993	Jane Eastoe	Wallsend, Newcastle	Paranoid schizophrenic fatally stabbed his mother	Insanity case