The brutal killing of a mum stabbed to death by a mentally ill patient she tried to help is to be probed by a sheriff.
Joanne Gallacher was knifed 57 times by James Kennedy at his flat in Biggar, Lanarkshire, in December 2018 - just hours after he was deemed fit to be sent home from hospital by psychiatrists.
The 33-year-old’s heartbroken family previously told how they held the NHS “solely to blame” for the mum-of-four’s death because of the lack of care her killer received.
Now Scotland’s Lord Advocate has ordered a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into the way Kennedy was “managed and risk assessed” prior to the killing, saying the circumstances give rise to “significant public concern”.
Joanne's mum Louise Gallacher, 61, said: “I am pleased this FAI is now going ahead but I’m obviously still devastated about why it’s going ahead.
“It’s not just Kennedy that’s responsible for Joanne’s death – there is serious gaps in process and care that contributed to this and that’s what we need to address to make sure something like this never happens again.
“The last few years have been a roller coaster so this FAI is the first sense of progress we’ve had.
“But ultimately Kennedy is still alive and Joanne isn’t, and no amount of hearings will ever change that.”
Joanne met Kennedy, 35, in hospital when she was seeking support for her own mental health struggles.
He was admitted to Wishaw General Hospital after drinking weed killer but was released two days later after being assessed by psychiatric nurses.
Hours later police had to remove steak knives from his flat over fears for his safety when he dialled 999 for an ambulance and hung up.
A psychiatric nurse spoke to him on the phone and a police call handler rang Joanne, who was concerned for his safety, to tell her Kennedy was safe and well.
The mum, of East Kilbride, was killed by Kennedy when she went to his home to check on him two hours later.
Kennedy is now being held in the State Hospital at Carstairs after admitting culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility at the High Court in Glasgow in 2019.
Joanne’s family previously told our sister paper, the Sunday Mail, of their fury over Kennedy’s management as they backed a campaign calling for a full review of Scotland’s mental health services.
Her mum Louise, 61, and daughter Emma, 19, both signed a Scottish Parliament petition backed by the loved ones of others who died seeking help for their demons.
Louise said at the time: “Like Emma, I feel the NHS are solely to blame for Joanne’s death. Kennedy was in hospital looking for help and they put him out into the community and Joanne suffered the consequences because of that.
“Now four kids don’t have a mum and I don’t have a daughter because of the lack of care he received.
“The NHS had a duty of care. It wasn’t there for Kennedy and it wasn’t there for my daughter. That’s the top and bottom line. I need to get some justice for Joanne.”
Emma added: “We want the system to listen more to those suffering. Those who were supposed to be there to help weren’t, until it was too late.”
NHS Lanarkshire said it had undertaken a Significant Adverse Event Review into the care and treatment of Kennedy to identify what lessons could be learned.
It said a number of action and learning points were identified which were being implemented.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service today announced an FAI would establish what “reasonable precautions” could have been taken, and could be implemented in the future, to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.
It will also examine the “care planning and interagency communications” in the lead up to Joanne’s killing.
Procurator Fiscal Katrina Parkes, who leads on death investigations, said: “The Lord Advocate considers that the death of Joanne Gallacher occurred in circumstances giving rise to significant public concern and as such a discretionary FAI should be held.
“An FAI will allow a full public airing of the evidence of the procurator fiscal’s wider investigations with interested parties. The evidence will be tested in a public setting and be the subject of an independent judicial determination.”
Gordon Dalyell, Partner at Digby Brown, added: “What happened to Joanne was a completely avoidable tragedy and we will continue to support and advise her family.
“We hope the FAI will reveal just what went wrong that day on 22 December 2018 and provide the answers the Gallacher family deserve, while making hospitals safer for the future.”
The Crown Office changed the date of the FAI’s first court hearing on Tuesday after the family spoke of their grief at it falling on what would have been Joanne’s 38th birthday.
A hearing will take place at Hamilton Sheriff Court in June.
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