Bournemouth killer lodges new appeal over NHS damages

Rosemary Armstrong was stabbed after visiting her daughter in Queensland Road

A woman with paranoid schizophrenia who stabbed her mother to death has lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court in a claim against her NHS carers.

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

Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust admitted the death was partly a result of its own care failures.

Henderson's lawyers have asked the court to decide when people can claim damages arising from their crimes.

Her mother was stabbed 22 times with a large kitchen knife after coming to check on her daughter at a flat in Queensland Road.

Henderson, now aged 46, was convicted in 2011 of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

An NHS inquiry found that the killing was "foreseeable" and that carers failed to respond adequately to signs of Henderson's deteriorating mental health.

'Flexible approach'

Henderson subsequently claimed in 2013 and 2014 for various damages including her loss of liberty and a share of her late mother's estate.

Her claims were rejected by the High Court in 2016 and by the Court of Appeal in August.

In the latest court application, her lawyers said the existing law was "in a mess and needed sorting out".

They said courts had sometimes adopted a principle known as "illegality" to prevent a person from benefitting from their crimes.

But they said the Supreme Court had shown a "more flexible approach" in a previous case.

The lawyers said the correct principle should now be established "at the highest level".