Nottingham: Man sentenced after killing dad in 'savage' stabbing

Rudi Marriott was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility by a jury

A man who stabbed his father to death in a "savage" attack has been placed under a hospital order.

Brenton Marriott, 58, died in hospital after being stabbed at his son's home in Cloister Street, Nottingham, on 5 August, 2022.

Rudi Marriott - who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia - was found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility by a jury.

The 29-year-old was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday.

'Delusional belief'

The court heard the defendant was being looked after by family who were concerned for his mental health.

A neighbour of Rudi's had heard him arguing with himself the night before the attack, and he had asked a neighbour to acquire a knife for him months before.

Brenton had arrived at his son's home to deliver water and check on him when he was stabbed.

Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said the defendant was "under the delusional belief that you needed to defend yourself from him, an unarmed man".

"You attacked him with what can only be described as savagery," he said.

"The number of the injuries you caused him, and the nature of them, speak for themselves."

Nottinghamshire Police said Brenton had been stabbed 75 times in the attack.

After attacking his father, the court heard Rudi went next door and said he had killed him.

Brenton Marriott, 58, died in hospital after being stabbed repeatedly by his son Rudi

A jury cleared Rudi of murdering his father following a trial, but found him guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The judge said: "Without your mental illness this tragic, wasteful death would never have occurred."

The hospital order means he will be kept in a secure unit and monitored by medical professionals and could only be released if he is judged not to be a risk to the public.

While acknowledging the defendant did not recognise that he was mentally ill, the judge told Rudi the family "had sought many times to get assistance".

"You did not accept that you were ill, and you did not accept that you needed treatment, but they did and they tried," he said.

"By the time of this awful incident, you were floridly unwell."

Imposing a hospital order, the judge said sending Rudi to prison would neither treat his illness, nor offer adequate protection to the public.

"The public are best to be protected, it seems to me, by you continuing to receive treatment that has been imposed upon you," he said.

"That simply couldn't happen in a custodial setting."

Delvin Marriott (left, with family friend Michael Bent) said the family felt let down by the lack of support for Rudi

In a statement released after the trial, Delvin Marriott - who had told the court his brother was "a gift from God" - said the family had been through "a very difficult and traumatic experience".

"It should be a point of record that the family feel both Brenton and Rudi were failed by the key support services which had ample opportunity to intervene and possibly prevent this terrible situation from occurring," he said.

"We truly hope lessons will be learned and used to avoid a situation like this and indeed the Nottingham attacks of June last year."

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed a mental health triage team "comprising an NHS mental health nurse supported by an officer" had contact with Rudi in August 2019 after concerns were raised about his mental health.

"A mental health nurse was in attendance and made their professional assessment that Mr Marriott should not be sectioned under the Mental Health Act," a spokesman said.

"Our thoughts remain with all of those affected by this tragic incident."

Ifti Majid, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Any loss of life in such circumstances is an absolute tragedy, and on behalf of the trust I offer my sincerest condolences to Brenton's family and friends."