Probe into murder urges better liaison

Probe into murder urges better liaison An independent review into
the murder of a woman by a mental health service user has called
for improved communication between the police and health services.

It found that police failed to tell mental health staff at
Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust that Llangadog farmer William
Davies had been arrested in October 2002 after threatening Caroline
Evans, whom he later murdered.

As a result, staff focused on treating Davies’s suicidal tendencies
– he had tried to hang himself while in custody.

In February 2003, Davies murdered Evans and then committed suicide,
despite spending time as an in-patient at a mental health hospital
and receiving continuous monitoring and treatment from community
outreach services.

The review, commissioned by Carmarthenshire Local Health Board,
states: “The panel believes there was a lack of understanding and
training about public protection procedures within the mental
health service and a lack of liaison with the police and probation
service.”

Though it makes 33 recommendations to improve services, it refuses
to blame any professional for the tragedy and says there is no
certainty that it could have been prevented.

It criticises the local alcohol advisory service for being closed
for two weeks over Christmas 2002 “at a time when Davies needed
support”.

Report from
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/docmetadata.cfm?orgid=251&id=42644