Donald Lock: Another Innocent Victim

There are some subjects to which I hope never to return, but, somehow, I always find my way back to them. One such subject is mental health homicide, which I first commented upon in March 2013, when I wrote about the murders of Sally Hodkin by Nicola Edgington in 2011 and that of 16-year old Christina Edkins by Philip Simelane in 2013. In 2015, I wrote about the murder in Croydon of Andrew Else and the savage killing of 60-year old Jennifer Mills-Westley in Spain. All four were killed by mental health patients; all are now forgotten by everyone but their grieving families. The murder of Andrew Else was not even reported on the national news. It was almost as if these horrible events were becoming a matter of routine.
This week, however, saw a trial which has catapulted the mental health homicide issue into the headlines: the sickening murder of Donald Lock, a 79-year old retired solicitor stabbed to death by Matthew Daley in July of last year. Daley, like all the other killers mentioned in the cases above, is a mental health patient. There are depressingly familiar features in Donald Lock's murder to all the other cases mentioned above (and hundreds of others not mentioned): the brutal randomness of the attacks; the perpetrators' pleading of diminished responsibility; the baffled anguish of the victims' families; the failure of the mental health authorities to assess the dangerous nature of the perpetrators and their needs.
In this case, I am happy to say, the mental health authority has been publicly called to account by the national media. The Chief Executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Colm Donaghy has said, under questioning, that they "got things wrong". This grossly obvious fact was followed up by his telling the BBC: "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."
The timing of his apology is interesting. Mr Lock's son, Andrew, said outside the court after the trial that the Lock family had not, up until that point, received an apology from the trust. This echoes the treatment of Julian Hendy, founder of the "100 Families" website, whose father was killed by a mental health patient in 2007. Mr Hendy received no apology from the relevant NHS authority; all official sympathy was directed to the family of the perpetrator. Until the end of the trial, the same thing seems to have happened in this case. Andrew Lock went on to say:'As a consequence of the failings of the NHS and this verdict, it is clear that Dad would still be here today if they had done their job properly..."
So, at last, this dreadful issue has attained national prominence. The Daily Mail points out:

"It was revealed that Daley's desperate parents warned doctors at least four times he could kill and begged them to section him – but nothing was done; NHS England has been brought in to investigate potential failings in ten killings involving patients of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust over the past five years; in an extraordinary admission, the trust's chief executive apologised 'unreservedly' to the families of Mr Lock and his killer".

Relatives of the hundreds of families whose loved ones have been murdered by released mental health patients will doubtless be thinking that it is about time this issue was given greater prominence. The 100 families website has details of 1232 such killings across Britain between 1993-2016, but regards this as an underestimate: " They are a considerable underestimate of the total as not every case is reported or known publicly."
There is also the fact that the mental health problems of violent or murderous offenders are not always made public.
So, while the critical publicity of Sussex Partnership is welcome, it is premature to expect much of an improvement in the situation. Colm Donaghy, under questioning by an admirably persistent Channel 5 reporter, said that he could not rule out a similar killing happening again in his area of responsibility. Presumably this applies to other areas in the UK, so no-one should feel reassured.
Finally, there could be a nasty twist in the tail to this story. Matthew Daley will, presumably, be sentenced to a long period of incarceration - but it might not be too lengthy. If he responds well to treatment, he could be released early. This, hopefully, will be reported by the mass media, but the official response will be that every effort has been made by dedicated medical staff to treat him, and that he will be released under supervision. It may turn out well, or it may not. Nicola Edgington, mentioned above, stabbed her mother to death in 2005 and pleaded diminished responsibility at her  trial. In 2009, her secure unit psychiatrist recommended her release, as she was "mostly stable". In 2011, she murdered 58-year old Sally Hodkin. Another case, taken here from the "100 Families" homepage, gives one more example:
"In February 2004, on the day he was due to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital, mentally ill Leslie Gadsby killed his father Arthur with a hammer. Less then two years later, in December 2006, he was conditionally discharged from hospital by a mental health review tribunal, with the agreement of hospital managers and Mersey Care NHS Trust.
In March 2010 he fatally stabbed his mother."
I am sure that all readers and contributors to Rhymes and Routes will join me in sending the deepest condolences to the family of Donald Lock, should they happen upon this posting. I fervently hope that Mr Lock's relatives will not have to face up to the galling but possible release of Matthew Daley - perhaps to kill again. I also hope that the whole of society and the media will continue to take this matter more seriously.