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| Nurse Karen Welsh's killing 'was preventable' | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A woman's death at the hands of a man suffering with paranoid schizophrenia could have been prevented, according to a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report. | A woman's death at the hands of a man suffering with paranoid schizophrenia could have been prevented, according to a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report. |
| Karen Welsh, 52, a nurse from Cardiff, was strangled at her home after she befriended John Michael Constantine. | Karen Welsh, 52, a nurse from Cardiff, was strangled at her home after she befriended John Michael Constantine. |
| She had met the 33-year-old fellow patient while being treated for depression in hospital | She had met the 33-year-old fellow patient while being treated for depression in hospital |
| The report points to poor communication between health professionals, police and probation officers. | The report points to poor communication between health professionals, police and probation officers. |
| Constantine was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act in March 2011 after admitting her manslaughter by diminished responsibility. | |
| The Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) report into the March 2010 killing highlighted a series of missed opportunities between agencies in their handling of Constantine: | |
| Constantine strangled Ms Welsh at her home in Thornhill after she offered him a place to stay after she befriended him while both were being treated at Whitchurch Hospital in Cardiff. | |
| Following the publication of the report, Ms Welsh's daughter Joanne said she hoped lessons would be learnt from her mother's death. | Following the publication of the report, Ms Welsh's daughter Joanne said she hoped lessons would be learnt from her mother's death. |
| "It is extremely upsetting to hear the conclusion that my mother could still be alive today had it not been for misdiagnosis, failures in communication between the relevant agencies and a lack of mental health awareness," she said. | "It is extremely upsetting to hear the conclusion that my mother could still be alive today had it not been for misdiagnosis, failures in communication between the relevant agencies and a lack of mental health awareness," she said. |
| "Unfortunately, these failings meant that a very dangerous and unwell man was let down and allowed to commit such a devastating crime. | "Unfortunately, these failings meant that a very dangerous and unwell man was let down and allowed to commit such a devastating crime. |
| "I sincerely hope that all parties involved will take the recommendations made very seriously and make the necessary changes to prevent other innocent lives being lost." | "I sincerely hope that all parties involved will take the recommendations made very seriously and make the necessary changes to prevent other innocent lives being lost." |
| During a Cardiff Crown Court hearing into the killing, it emerged that Constantine was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been fit and well until suffering a mental breakdown in 2008. | |
| Fled | |
| He had changed his name from Kevin Astley to John Constantine after the character played by actor Keanu Reeves in the action-horror movie Constantine released in 2005. | |
| The court heard that Ms Welsh offered Constantine a place to stay at her home in Thornhill, Cardiff as he was homeless and had been sleeping rough in the grounds of nearby Castell Coch. | |
| But Constantine beat Ms Welsh around the face, strangled her and cut her wrist before going on the run. | |
| He fled and eventually handed himself in after staying in a bed and breakfast hotel 80 miles away in Newtown, Powys. | |
| Constantine, who had denied murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility, was remanded to a maximum security hospital indefinitely under the terms of the Mental Health Act. | |
| The judge Mr Justice Christopher Clarke said: "The hospital diagnoses about you were sadly wrong. Your killing was linked to your abnormality of mind. |