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Man found guilty of manslaughter for road rage stabbing of solicitor
Man found guilty of manslaughter for road rage stabbing of solicitor
(about 1 hour later)
A man with mental health problems has been found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility following the road rage killing of a retired solicitor.
The family of a retired solicitor stabbed to death by a man with known mental health problems following a minor car accident has criticised the NHS for failings that left him free to kill.
Matthew Daley, 35, stabbed 79-year-old Donald Lock 39 times on the A24 at Findon, near Worthing, West Sussex, on 16 July last year.
Matthew Daley, 35, knifed 79-year-old Donald Lock 39 times after a car shunt on the A24 at Findon, near Worthing, West Sussex, in July.
Daley stabbed Lock after his Toyota crashed into the back of Daley’s Ford Fusion at about 16mph, causing minor damage to both cars.
Before the killing Daley’s family, who feared his mental health had deteriorated and he might be involved in a fatality, had pleaded with clinicians to section him.
Before the killing, Daley’s family had pleaded with clinicians to section him as his mental health declined, the trial heard. NHS chiefs have apologised to his relatives for not doing more.
The NHS trust admitted: “We got things wrong,” and apologised, saying the treatment it provided Daley would be subject to an independent inquiry.
At Lewes crown court, Daley was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Sussex Partnership NHS foundation trust said it had also commissioned a review of 10 killings between 2011 and 2016 involving patients it had come into contact with.
The crash occurred after Lock, returning from a cycling meeting, was forced to brake when Daley made an emergency stop.
Outside court, Lock’s son, Andrew, said: “As a consequence of the failings of the NHS and this verdict is it clear that dad would still be here today if they had done their job properly.”
After a “calm” Lock got out of his car to ask why he had braked so suddenly, Daley knifed him while remaining calm “like Jesus Christ”, jurors heard.
Paranoid schizophrenic Daley, who was cleared of murder, stabbed Lock after his Toyota crashed into the back of Daley’s Ford Fusion at about 16mph causing minor damage to both cars.
As Daley attacked him with a four-and-a-half inch blade, he allegedly told Lock to “die, you fucking cunt”. A witness heard Lock yell: “Help, help, get off me.”
Witnesses told jurors at Lewes crown court a “calm” Lock got out to ask Daley why he had braked so suddenly. Daley, who was described as remaining calm “like Jesus Christ” began stabbing him. One said Daley looked “expressionless” during the attack, like he was “having a passport photo taken”. Another witness, who tried to intervene, retreated when he saw the four-and-half-inch knife in Daley’s fist.
Another witness said Daley, who is being held in the medium-secure Hellingly Centre in East Sussex, looked “expressionless” during the attack, as if he were “having a passport photo” taken.
Lock, who had been given the all-clear from prostate cancer shortly before his death, died from a stab wound to the aorta. The great-grandfather, who had celebrated 55 years of marriage to his wife, Maureen, was returning from a social gathering of Worthing Excelsior cycling club.
Passerby Andrew Slater tried to remonstrate with Daley, telling him: “Come on mate, leave it out.” But Slater retreated to his car when he saw a knife in Daley’s clenched fist.
Daley was described in court as an “ideal” child before the breakdown of his parents’ marriage while he was studying architecture at Portsmouth University coincided with his mental health decline.
Lock, a great-grandfather who had recently been given the all-clear from prostate cancer, died at the scene. The cause of death was a stab wound to the aorta.
His mother, Lynda Daley, told jurors he was never given a proper diagnosis.
The trial in front of Mr Justice Singh heard that Daley had experienced mental health problems for 10 years.
His father, John, broke down as he told how the killing need not have happened if his son’s mental health had been treated properly . “All our nightmares had come to pass and just unnecessarily, he said, saying he thought the condition have could be treated. Lives had been ruined, he said.
His mother, Lynda Daley, told jurors that he was never given a proper diagnosis, they had not been listened to by health professionals and they often lived in a state of anxiety.
He had written to his son’s doctor in 2013 warning he could “end up hurting someone or worse unless he resumes taking his medication”. In 2014, he wrote again he was “worried that it will end up with a fatality unless Matthew gets help with his obsessional behaviour and the voices”. He knew instantly his son was involved after reading news reports while on holiday in France. “My heart sunk in my boots and I thought: ‘My God it’s come to pass,’” he said.
Recalling the moment when she realised her son was suspected of the killing, she said: “I couldn’t believe it but, because of where it was, my heart sunk and all I kept thinking was, ‘We tried our best.’”
One forensic psychiatrist said he believed Daley had been wrongly diagnosed with Asperger’s and had an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness that had been undiagnosed for years. Another said Daley was not psychotic at the time of the killing.
His father, John Daley, broke down as he said the killing need not have happened had his son’s mental health been treated properly.
Daley, who would “often hear voices” and hold his head “as if he was about to explode” would run a couple of marathons a week and spend hours with his pet goatsin an attempt to help his illness.
“All our nightmares had come to pass and just unnecessarily because I know that people with mental conditions like this can be treated, people can be sectioned, people can have injections and these things do not need to happen. I am thinking to myself, this poor man and his family will have to live with my son’s actions for the rest of their lives,” he said.
After the killing, he rang his mother and said he had “done something really bad or something really wrong”. He went on: “I killed someone.”
“They will never be able to understand what happened, their lives have been ruined, my son’s life and expectations have been ruined, and it didn’t have to happen.
In his videoed police interview Daley said he felt “threatened and afraid” at seeing Lock “very close and very angry” in his rear view mirror and “wanted that scenario to stop because it was intrusive” .
“Had I been more assertive and angry in my dealings it might not have happened. I have always had a measured response with the authorities – it’s not the way to deal when you have a problem, you must shout and scream from the rooftops because being reasonable never gets an outcome.”
One expert said when Daley first came to the attention of the mental heath teams, it was thought he had schizophrenia but his diagnosis was later revised to autism.
In September 2013, John Daley wrote a letter to his son’s doctor, saying: “I am concerned [that] Matthew could end up hurting someone or worse unless he resumes taking his medication.”
Lock was described as “not your typical great-grandfather” and he and his wife had travelled the world since his retirement from Miller Parris solicitors in Worthing, with their adventures including walking over Sydney harbour bridge and riding ostriches. Lock’s son described his father as “full of wisdom, full of wit, always calm, always supportive, the perfect role model, and full of charm”.
In a further fateful prediction, he wrote another letter in March 2014 which said: “I am worried that it will end up with a fatality unless Matthew gets help with his obsessional behaviour and the voices.”
After the conviction, Colm Donaghy, chief executive of Sussex Partnership NHS foundation trust, apologised to both families, “because the care we provided to Matthew Daley should have been better”.
Daley’s mental health decline stemmed from the breakdown of his parents’ marriage while he was studying architecture at the University of Portsmouth, the jury was told.
Daley, first referred in 2008, received treatment from the early intervention service and later transferred to the care of the community mental health teams, where he received treatment for a combination of Asperger’s syndrome and psychosis.
Lynda Daley said he would often hear voices and hold his head “as if he was about to explode”. He sometimes grabbed the steering wheel while she was driving, causing her to swerve, she said.
“Having reviewed his care, it’s clear that we should have reviewed Mr Daley’s diagnosis, looked at other ways of providing treatment, done more to help him manage his symptoms of psychosis and listened to his family more closely,” said Donaghy.
In an attempt to help combat his illness, Daley would run a couple of marathons a week, spending hours on the Downs, often with his pet goats.
“We got things wrong. But I do not believe that any of our staff acted in a way which was deliberately negligent or designed to cause harm. They knew Mr Daley well and believed they were doing the right things to help him. We will do things differently as a result of this tragic incident.”
One expert said that when Daley first came to the attention of mental health teams, it was deemed that he had schizophrenia, but the diagnosis was later revised to autism.
A week before the trial, the chief executive of Sussex Partnership NHS foundation trust apologised to Daley’s family, saying its care of him should have been better.
Of the apology, Lynda Daley said: “It’s 10 years too late.”
She went on to say Daley confessed to the killing just as she was about to enter a police station amid fears that he may be involved.
He told her: “I need to know where you are and that I can trust you.” Daley then said he had done “something really bad or something really wrong”.
In a quiet voice, he said “I killed someone”, before adding: “I want you to think about what I just said and ring me back in 10 minutes.”
It emerged during the trial that the night before Lock’s death, Daley paid a prostitute between £60 and £80 for sex in Brighton.
Following the stabbing, Daley parked his car at Woodlands Stables in Patching, where he had been helping out. He was arrested the next day near Worthing golf course with a blood-stained knife in his bag.
Daley did not give evidence at the trial. In a recorded police interview, he spoke in detail about the moments leading up to the confrontation.
He described feeling “threatened and afraid” as he claimed that Lock had tailgated him while allegedly shouting obscenities from behind the wheel as Daley looked in his rear-view mirror.
“I just saw someone very close and very angry, and I wanted that scenario to stop because it was intrusive,” Daley said.
“I’m not happy that the man has died. I’m not happy that in the final minutes of his life he was in that much pain, and I don’t want to be reminded of it.
“I feel very sorry about what I have done and I don’t want to see anything like that happen in my lifetime again.”
While on remand, Daley tried to send a letter to the BBC. In it, he offered a further account of what happened after the crash.
“I didn’t want to look at his angry face so I turned towards my driver’s door and just put my feet on to the road,” he wrote. “I could feel the other cars all stopping behind me. When I looked out of the door, I could see him shouting and swearing.
“Because of my autism, the other sounds were silent. He walked fast up to me wearing bright colours. About a metre and a half away, I stood up, moving his aggression away from me.”
His younger sister, Rebecca Daley, described the killing as “everything we feared would happen over the last 10 years”.
And his father recalled how he knew instantly that his son was involved in Lock’s death after reading news reports while on holiday in France. “My heart sunk in my boots and I thought ‘My God, it’s come to pass’, he said.”
The forensic psychiatrist Dr Roderick Ley said he believed that Daley had been wrongly diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and that he had an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness, which was undiagnosed for years.
Another expert, the consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph, said Daley was not psychotic at the time of the killing, pointing to the absence of audio hallucinations as an example.
Listening to the evidence throughout the trial was Lock’s wife of 55 years, Maureen, and their son, Andrew, who sat opposite Daley’s family in the public gallery.
A woman was led from court in tears as the verdict was announced by the jury forewoman.
Daley sat emotionless in the dock flanked by two people.
