Cawdery killings: 'Killer is also a victim' family tells inquest

Marjorie and Michael Cawdery were killed in a stabbing at their home in Portadown, County Armagh, in 2017

A man who stabbed an elderly couple to death in their home was also a victim because he was failed by mental health services, an inquest has been told.

Michael and Marjorie Cawdery, both 83, were killed in a "frenzied attack" in their County Armagh home in May 2017.

Their killer, Thomas Scott McEntee, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. He was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Their son-in-law told the inquest the family could not forgive McEntee.

However, Charles Little said McEntee "should have been taken seriously" when he tried to get medical help before the killings.

He added that Mr and Mrs Cawdery's family were "very conscious" that McEntee was in very ill health at the time and he had attempted to access treatment.

McEntee, from Kilkeel, County Down, had been brought to Craigavon Area Hospital under police escort on 26 May 2017 due to concerns over his mental health.

While he was being treated in Craigavon, McEntee walked out of the hospital and broke into the Cawderys' home in Portadown, where he killed the couple.

On the opening day of the inquest, Mr Little described how he was the first person to discover that his parents-in-law had been stabbed,

Drove off at speed

Mr Little, who is married to the couple's daughter Wendy Little, explained that his family lives in the house next door, which shared a garden with the Cawderys.

On the afternoon of 26 May 2017, the witness said he was in their garden when he saw a man walking past him, holding Michael Cawdery's car keys.

Mr Cawdrey had been having trouble with his car so Mr Little said he assumed the stranger was a mechanic.

However, the man then got into the car and drove off at high speed, hitting the vehicle off the side of the house and crashing through closed gates.

Mr Little said he went into his parents-in-laws' home to alert them, but inside he found Mr Cawdery on the floor, rolled up in a rug.

He then saw Mrs Cawdery in the same state, also rolled up in a rug.

Forensic officers examined the house where Mr and Mrs Cawdery were killed in May 2017

Mr Little shouted to his wife to call an ambulance and they told their teenage son not to enter the house.

Mr and Mrs Little then attempted to perform first aid on both victims, until the police and paramedics arrived and took over.

The inquest was told that the couple died of their injuries, which included haemorrhaging from multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma.

During his evidence, Mr Little said the couple's killer had lived "a chaotic" lifestyle, but had nonetheless attempted to seek treatment for his mental health problems.

Mr Little said that a "system where only the ill man is held culpable" was not his idea of justice and he wanted the inquest to uncover the truth.

Mental health concern

At the outset of the hearing, counsel for the inquest outlined McEntee's contact with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and various health services in the days leading up to the killings.

It focused on the five-day period between 22 May and 26 May 2017, when McEntee sought treatment in hospitals in Belfast, Newry and Craigavon.

At the start of that week, McEntee called police on 999 to report his concerns that he was being "chased".

He was interviewed at Musgrave Street PSNI station, where he claimed he was being pursued by members of a cult.

The PSNI officer who spoke to him told the inquest that McEntee asked to speak to the "cult liaison officer".

The officer said he suspected McEntee might be suffering from mental health problems but at the time, he did not feel he was at risk of self-harm nor did he think McEntee posed a danger to anyone else.

The officer found a contact number for his sister in Londonderry and she agreed to travel to Belfast to collect him.

Thomas Scott McEntee at an earlier court hearing

However, before she arrived, McEntee left the station against police advice and went toward the Europa Bus Station.

His sister contacted the police in a distressed state and McEntee was later taken to Belfast's Mater Hospital for assessment.

On 25 May, police were called to Warrenpoint, County Down, due to concerns about McEntee's behaviour.

He was intoxicated, the coroner was told, and police asked him how he would get home.

McEntee agreed to travel to Lurgan, County Armagh, by train and police gave him a lift to Newry Train Station. However, he did not board a train.

The following day, police received reports of a naked man walking on the Millvale Road, close to the train station, and several officers were deployed to the incident.

'Fighting stance'

A member of the public. who had found McEntees' clothes, handed them in to officers and they found his ID inside the clothing.

Police then found out that McEntee had walked into Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, still naked, where he encountered security guards.

He was brought outside the building, and at one point, McEntee adopted a "fighting stance" as police tried to speak to him.

The inquest heard McEntee was then punched twice by a PSNI officer, before he was brought to the ground and handcuffed.

Daisy Hill staff came outside to help and it was decided that McEntee should be taken in an ambulance to Craigavon Area Hospital, where he could be more easily admitted to its Bluestone mental health unit.

Police followed the ambulance to Craigavon as requested and, on arrival, officers asked if they were required to stay,

The inquest was told paramedics advised that the police would not be needed and McEntee was admitted to the emergency department for assessment.

The coroner was told that a health worker attempted to take blood from the patient, but when she did so, McEntee pulled the needle out and walked out of the hospital.

He then stole a bottle of wine from an off-licence before breaking into the Cawdrey's home in Upper Ramone Park, Portadown.

The coroner was told that staff at Craigavon implemented the Southern Health Trust's "absconding" procedure after the patient went missing.

The inquest continues.