The 'warning signs' were missed before a mentally-ill woman bludgeoned a pensioner to death in a Co-op store, a review has said. Zara Radcliffe, 30, assaulted 88-year-old John Rees in the supermarket in an unprovoked attack on May 5, 2020.
His death occurred after Radcliffe hit the elderly man with wine bottles and a fire extinguisher as he lay on the floor of the store in Rhondda, Wales after walking from her home carrying a kitchen knife. She then launched a frenzied attack on multiple victims, stabbing them to the head and neck, reports Wales Online.
Mr Rees tried to stop the attack but died as a result of severe blunt force trauma to the face and multiple face fractures. At her trial in October, 2020 Radcliffe pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, and admitted to the attempted murders of three others.
She was assessed as being “profoundly mentally ill” with schizophrenia at the time of the offence. She had been hearing voices telling her that people were going to slit her throat and she had stopped taking her medication because of the side effects, an independent review found.
Radcliffe was sentenced to a hospital order without any time limit. In February 2022 Cwm Taf Morgannwg Safeguarding Board commissioned the independent review of the circumstances which led to the attack.
The review found that during the hours before the fatal attack, Radcliffe's parents believed she was in a mental health crisis and were "pleading" for help for their daughter from mental health services.
The review said: "Responses to their phone calls fell short of their expectations. Since [Radcliffe] did not have a Care and Treatment Plan in place, she did not have a crisis plan."
Radcliffe's involvement with mental health services began in 2016, and she was admitted three times to psychiatric hospitals between February 2019 and February 2020, spending 190 days in hospital during the period year-long period.
The report found her parents were "troubled" by many aspects of her care, and that prior to the pandemic "the warning signs concerning [Radcliffe's] rapid deterioration were not recognised or were poorly processed".
Her parents were "frustrated that mental health services did not engage with the reach of her distressing life events", which they believe began when she discovered her fiancé and father of her child had left her. "[Radcliffe’s] subsequent relationships were violent and [she] increasingly relied on drugs and alcohol," the report said. "Over time, the voices [Radcliffe] could hear became menacing. They threatened her. She reported feeling unsafe on at least 15 occasions during her hospitalisations."
But the report found that when she was discharged from hospital for the final time there was "no planned community support in place for her" and the "onus was on [Radcliffe] and/or her parents to make contact with services". She was last seen by professionals - a social worker and a nurse - when they visited her at home on March 2, 2020.
In addition to 'warning signs' being missed, the review found six other areas for learning. One of the areas for learning said there seemed to be "uncertainty" among professionals about Radcliffe's mental health status, with the perception of nurses differing from seven consultant psychiatrists responsible for her hospital care.
The report said "there was no negotiated crisis plan setting out the resources, operating procedures and responsibilities at the point of hospital discharge" and that Radcliffe "did not benefit from the succession of referrals within the hospital and community".
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