Ian Dollery: Family brand report 'not fit for purpose'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-44418749

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Relatives of a father-of-three murdered by a schizophrenic man who said he was "the son of Satan" branded a report into his death "not fit for purpose".

Robert Kay, 49, stabbed Ian Dollery 30 times with a kitchen knife in front of his screaming wife Andrea and their 22-year-old daughter Grace.

An NHS report has now concluded that his death was not preventable.

But Mr Dollery's family said opportunities to diagnose Kay were missed "time and time again".

Kay, who did not know his victim, had a long history of mental illness and had been on a three-day drugs binge.

Before the murder on 18 June 2015, he told friends he was "the son of Satan".

Kay took cocaine, ecstasy, morphine, heroin, amphetamine, cannabis and methadone, and drank eight cans of super-strength lager before walking into Mr Dollery's open garage and attacking him.

Mr Dollery, 51, of St Annes, Lancashire, died in hospital following the attack.

Kay was later convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 23 years.

An NHS-commissioned report, compiled by mental health consultancy Caring Solutions, concluded that Mr Dollery's death was not preventable.

But it said Kay using violence to harm others was "predictable".

The report states that as Kay had refused to engage with mental health services, nothing could be done to treat him effectively.

He led a chaotic, homeless lifestyle, had 50 convictions for 102 offences, and mental health services had been involved with him since the 1990s.

Kay told medics he was experiencing psychotic symptoms, hallucinations, delusions and "thought broadcasting" - the belief that others were aware of his thoughts.

The NHS report said Kay "had never met the criteria for detention" under the Mental Health Act.

But Mr Dollery's family said NHS records show he had previously been detained in a psychiatric hospital following a drugs overdose.

In a statement, they said: "It says in essence that there was nothing anybody could have done to keep our family safe. We disagree profoundly with that finding."

The family said it was "extremely disappointed" with the report and added: "We believe is not fit for purpose.

"Our family should have been protected from Robert Kay, who was exceptionally dangerous, at liberty and had a known and extensive history of serious violence, drug abuse and psychotic mental illness."

'Repeated failings'

Julian Hendy, director of the Hundred Families charity, which supports families bereaved by killings by people with mental illness, said: "We believe the murder of Ian Dollery was entirely preventable.

"The report manages to claim however that all these very serious and repeated failings had no impact whatsoever on the death of Ian Dollery. Few will believe that."

In statements Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust offered its condolences to the family.

It added that this sort of incident is very unusual and said they had changed a number of policies since Mr Dollery's death.