Bournemouth killer granted new compensation hearing

Ecila Henderson chased her mother from a flat and stabbed her to death

A woman with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed her own mother to death has been granted an appeal hearing in a claim against her NHS carers.

Ecila Henderson killed 69-year-old Rosemary Armstrong in Pokesdown, Bournemouth, in August 2010.

Henderson lost a £300,000 claim against Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust in December 2016, after arguing the death arose from inadequate care.

The Court of Appeal said the case raises important legal questions.

Bloodstained knife

Henderson, now aged 46, stabbed her mother 22 times when Ms Armstrong came to visit her at her flat in Queensland Road.

She was disarmed by a police officer after being spotted carrying a bloodstained knife in the street.

An independent inquiry found that a health worker had reported Henderson's condition had deteriorated before the killing.

It also concluded steps to recall her to inpatient care were inadequate.

Henderson was later convicted of manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility and was detained in a mental health unit.

She sued Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust for a range of losses, including her inheritance from her mother and her time incarcerated.

Previously, legal firm DAC Beachcroft, defending the trust, said Henderson had been seeking to overturn a legal principle which prohibited a person from recovering damages for the consequences of their crimes.

It said it successfully argued that the principle, known as illegality, still applied where claimants had any degree of criminal responsibility in the case.

Permission to appeal was granted by Lord Justice Hamblen, who said the case "raises points of law of general importance".

Henderson's barrister, Nicholas Bowen QC, said a two-day hearing was likely to take place next autumn.