The son-in-law of an 88-year-old man who was killed by a woman with schizophrenia at a supermarket has criticized the lack of proper risk assessments of mental health patients, saying that too many people are being harmed as a result. Zara Radcliffe killed John Rees and injured three other people at the Co-op store in Penygraig, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in May 2020. An inquest found that there were “missed opportunities” to assess her mental health leading up to the attack, with Radcliffe later telling police that “I knew I would kill someone today”. Coroner Graeme Hughes recorded a narrative verdict, stating that Mr. Rees was “unlawfully killed” by Radcliffe, who was 30 when she was detained under a hospital order for the attack five months later.
Patrick Houston, Mr. Rees’s son-in-law, said that there was “little sign” that mental health services were learning from similar situations, which happened “all too often”. The family were “not surprised” that Mr. Rees had “done the right thing”, but more had to be done to prevent others being killed. “The cost of effective care for these patients may be high, but those with responsibility in this area should bear in mind that the cost to the many people affected by such cases is immeasurably higher,” he said.
The coroner found that a planned phone call with Radcliffe on 30 April did not happen and that, if it had, it was “more likely than not” that Radcliffe’s care co-ordinator would have become aware that she was not staying at home or taking her medication. He added that their failure to complete an updated risk assessment when she was in the community probably further contributed to Mr. Rees’s death and was another “missed opportunity”. The four-day inquest heard that Radcliffe’s father Wayne had raised concerns about her on the day of the attack.
Radcliffe used wine bottles and a fire extinguisher to assault Mr. Rees, another man and two women. Mr. Rees was killed when he tried to stop Radcliffe. Ayette Bounouri, who tried to drag Mr. Rees to safety, said she will be traumatised for the rest of her life. Mrs. Bounouri used a shopping basket in an effort to disarm Radcliffe. Speaking after Mr. Rees’s inquest, Mrs. Bounouri said he was a “true gentleman” who was loved by the community
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