Mental health: Killer's mum calls for probe into son's care errors

Mark Hoof was killed by his friend Ryan Willden, who was a paranoid schizophrenic

The mum of a schizophrenic man who killed a friend after an early release from a secure hospital has called for an inquiry into medics' errors.

Ryan Willden fatally stabbed Mark Hoof and seriously hurt his partner in 2021.

Three months earlier, Willden was sectioned after setting himself on fire in his parents' car during a psychotic episode, but doctors found no mental health concerns and released him.

An NHS report admitted some errors over the case in Coventry.

But it concluded the attack was not "predictable or avoidable", despite Willden being wrongly classed as low risk with no consideration given to finding him secure accommodation.

"This was never about prediction - I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened - this was always about prevention," said Bridget Willden, Ryan's mother.

She said she was "utterly devastated" for Mr Hoof's family over his death.

"That breaks my heart because it should never have happened," she said. "Had they kept him in then they would have discovered truly how ill he was. They didn't give him that chance."

Ryan Willden was diagnosed with schizophrenia while on remand for killing Mark Hoof and seriously injuring his partner

Willden was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and later, borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression disorder. He started showing symptoms of schizophrenia as far back as 2008.

He was also a prolific drug user, smoking cannabis as a teenager before moving onto crack cocaine and heroin. He also had convictions for violence.

Mrs Willden said she repeatedly tried to get her son help during 2019 and 2020 when he was suffering from paranoia and hearing voices, but believes medics did not take her seriously because of his drug use.

"He had become very, very seriously ill and the fact that I was repeatedly taking him to the hospital and they weren't taking me seriously I found quite shocking," she said.

She pressed charges against her son following the car fire in November 2020 to get him sectioned and assessed, but was stunned when he turned up on her doorstep less than four weeks later, having been cleared for release.

He was discharged there by hospital staff despite a social services order preventing him being there.

Mrs Willden said she believed doctors did not take her son's deteriorating mental health seriously

Mrs Willden frantically rang around organisations to find him somewhere to live. He got a room in a shared house in Waveley Road through homelessness charity P3, where Mr Hoof and his partner were already living.

The trio became friends, but Willden's paranoia returned, reaching the point where he thought his housemates were trying to kill him.

On 25 February, 2021, he turned up at his mum's house shouting that his friends were trying to poison him and steal his medication.

Police took him back to Waveley Road and Mr Hoof was dead within an hour, with his partner fighting for her life.

Willden was found guilty of manslaughter with diminished responsibility and attempted murder, and sentenced to 16 years - firstly in a mental health unit and later prison.

His family are appealing against the sentence in a bid to keep him in hospital.

Mrs Willden was gutted to press charges when her son set fire to himself in her car - but she wanted him to be sectioned

Willden's uncle, Allen Deanie, said: "From the first moment this happened we felt absolute devastation, we were totally distraught for the families, their loved ones, the victims... that a member of our own family could actually commit something so horrific."

It motivated the family to carry out their own investigations to try to understand how Willden slipped through the net of mental health services.

"All our intentions following this have been to get answers for the families to find out if any mistakes have been made," Mr Deanie said.

A report by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust into Willden's care concluded he was wrongly classed as low risk despite regular violent outbursts and psychotic episodes.

It also detailed how there was no discharge plan to ensure he was in accommodation for his own safety and others, and no one looked into his medical history to gain a full picture of his needs.

The locum doctor who cleared him for release could not be traced by hospital investigators and was never questioned about his decision.

Mr Hoof's family said they were completely devastated to lose him, while his partner was left with life-changing injuries

Willden was also not diagnosed with any condition during his stay at Coventry's Caludon Centre, receiving his schizophrenia diagnosis while on remand.

However, the report concluded that the care he received was reasonable.

Mr Hoof's family told the BBC they were completely heartbroken at his death, and while they believed some errors had been made before the attacks, Willden was responsible for his actions.

"Mark was very, very supportive to my son," said Mrs Willden. "Ryan actually wrote in his diary 'I don't know where I'd be without Mark, he has been my rock'.

"I'm utterly devastated that there is a family that can no longer speak to their son, their brother, their uncle, their dad."

Willden is on anti-psychotic medication in a secure hospital unit following his sentence in March

Julian Hendy, from charity Hundred Families, which campaigns around mental health homicides, said the hospital report did not show enough "professional curiosity" into Willden's deteriorating mental health.

"I think it was too easy for them to say, oh this is not a mental health problem, it's a drug problem. It sort of feels like they washed their hands of him."

A spokesperson for Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust said: "On behalf of the Trust, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Hoof and his partner, who sustained life-changing injuries.

"The report found that for the most part, the care and treatment provided by the Trust was reasonable and there is no indication that the tragic events that took place in February of 2021 were predictable or avoidable.

"The report did however indicate some recommendations which the Trust will fully implement and continuously monitor improvements."

Mrs Willden said she wanted an inquiry and the chance to ask "proper questions", because she believes the tragedy could have been avoided.

"I have no doubt if something doesn't change within our mental health services, where they take people seriously whether they take drugs or not, then this will happen again," she added.