Melissa Mathieson: Alexandra House fined over safety failures

Melissa Mathieson, 18, was strangled at a Bristol residential home by fellow resident Jason Conroy in 2014

A home for vulnerable adults has been fined £125,000 after admitting health and safety charges after a woman was murdered by a fellow resident.

Melissa Mathieson, 18, was strangled by Jason Conroy at Alexandra House, in Knowle, Bristol, in 2014.

Conroy, then 19, was later jailed for life, with a minimum term of 19 years.

Alexandra Home Bristol Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that persons not in its employment were not exposed to health and safety risks.

The charge related to not protecting resident Ms Mathieson, to the risks imposed by Jason Conroy.

'Severe risk'

During his sentencing in 2015, Judge Graham Cottle told the court Conroy posed "a very serious danger to the public, in particular young women" and had "stalked" Ms Mathieson with the intention "to have sexual intercourse with her."

Bristol Crown Court heard Alexandra Homes Bristol Ltd, which provides residential care for adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome, was charged last year with an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 following a lengthy investigation.

During the case against Alexandra Home Bristol Ltd at Bristol Crown Court, the court heard how the home had been warned about Jason Conroy's behaviour in a report by expert Hilary Grant.

The report made clear months before Ms Mathieson's death that he presented a severe risk to staff and patients at the home, and that included serious to fatal outcomes.

David Sapiecha, prosecuting told the court Conroy, who once tried to strangle a teacher so he could abuse her, had shown a "pattern of predatory sexual violence" in the years leading up to the murder and had killed Miss Mathieson just two months after moving into Alexandra House.

Melissa Mathieson, who had ADHD and autism, moved to Alexandra House eight weeks before she was murdered

Conroy had also previously attempted to kill his mother by putting a duvet over her head.

Hours before she died Ms Mathieson, who had ADHD and autism, had complained to staff that Conroy was stalking her.

Mr Sapiecha said the company had failed in its duty to keep residents safe after being given information about the danger Conroy posed, including a report from psychiatrist Dr Hilary Grant two months before the incident.

'Woefully inadequate'

He told the court "it cannot be said there was no warning at all," and the home, which was aware Conroy needed one-to-one staffing at night, should have taken immediate action.

Mr Sapiecha said while a support plan and risk assessment was created before the Grant report, the home should have "changed control measures which were woefully inadequate to protect others", and put in place "robust support measures and shared with staff."

However, the defence repeated that the home did not know what was in the risk report by Hilary Grant and while it knew Conroy presented a risk, believed it had the capacity to deal with issues.

Alexandra House Bristol Ltd plead guilty to a healthy and safety charge at Bristol Crown Court earlier

The court was told how the company was profoundly sorry it did not assimilate the Grant report, but that no-one brought it to its attention.

Bristol Crown Court heard how the report was also not shared with staff at the home, so employees were unaware that Conroy was a violent sexual predator.

It was also explained that Conroy's movements within the home could not be restricted, as his top floor room was unable to be locked.

'Hearts broken'

The court was also told how responsibility for Conroy's placement was with his local authority in Guernsey, but the authority had no adult social worker in place at the time of his placement at the home.

On the 5th August 2014 the authorities in Guernsey said they were satisfied with the risk assessment that Conroy should be placed at Alexandra House and he took up residency on 26th August 2014.

Taking to the dock, Melissa's father James Mathieson told the court his family's hearts were broken his "energetic and fun" daughter "was allowed to be murdered in her sleep".

James Mathieson said his daughter Melissa was "energetic and fun"

Mr Mathieson said he and his wife had "always understood that Melissa was extremely vulnerable", something he said they had voiced to both social services and Alexandra House.

He said his daughter felt a move away from home would be good for her after finding "life becoming difficult" and representatives from the home and social services assured them of her safety and well being and said they would "help her thrive".

However, within eight weeks of arriving at Alexandra House in August 2014 she was murdered.

Her father said his daughter's killer, Jason Conroy himself "was another failure of Alexandra House."

'Can't forgive'

"He was in the wrong place with the wrong supervision," he said.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Mathieson, whose wife died from cancer shortly after his daughter, said: "The fine to me is immaterial. The fact that they have pleaded guilty to failings is the thing that keeps me going."

Passing sentence, Judge William Hart described Conroy as a "highly disturbed and dangerous young man" whose character was of a "violent sexual predator".

He said the company had failed to install measures, such as panic alarms and movement sensors, to protect Miss Mathieson and other residents.

"The risk could not have been wholly removed and the steps they took were extensive but not such to comply with its statutory duty," he added.

Alexandra Home Bristol Ltd was fined £125,000 at Bristol Crown Court.