A man who stabbed his girlfriend 173 times has been given an indefinite hospital order, after serious concerns were raised over police and mental health services’ handling of his case.
Jake Neate, 37, is detained in intensive care at Rampton hospital in Nottinghamshire, one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales. He is seriously ill and is subject to checks every 15 minutes.
Chelmsford crown court heard that Neate killed 33-year-old Suzanne Brown in a “frenzied attack” at the couple’s home in Braintree, Essex, on 15 December 2017. A jury heard a trial of the facts because Neate was deemed unfit to stand trial.
Both Neate and his parents had repeatedly raised the alarm about his deteriorating mental health in the days and hours before the killing, his parents have said.
As well as police and mental health services, the family also contacted their local MP, James Cleverley, but he did not see key emails until after Brown’s death.
Neate’s mother, Jan, said in a statement that her son had a normal childhood but smoked cannabis as a teenager and became mentally ill soon after going to study geography at the University of Birmingham.
He had been with Brown since 2007 and the court heard she was devoted to him and had “the patience of a saint”, looking after him when he was unwell.
His mental health deteriorated after a clinical decision was made to take him off the anti-psychotic drug clozapine because it was damaging his immune system.
The court heard that on the evening of Friday 15 December Neate’s mother called 999 and described the situation in the couple’s home as “critical”, hoping the police would respond immediately. Officers arrived three hours later, by which time it was too late to save Brown.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it was finalising its investigation into the actions of the police.
Neate himself had contacted Cleverly after the withdrawal of clozapine, and the MP said he would try to help. On the night of the killing, Neate’s mother twice emailed Cleverly expressing concern that the emergency services had not responded swiftly to her pleas for help. Cleverly and his team did not see the emails until they returned to Westminster the following Monday morning.
The MP later wrote to Neate’s parents expressing his condolences and said: “When the time is appropriate I will, if you wish me to, bring your concerns about the lack of support for Jake to the attention of mental health services and social services.”
Andy Brogan, the executive director for mental health and deputy chief executive at Essex Partnership University NHS foundation trust, expressed sorrow for Brown’s death.
He said the trust had conducted an internal review but because a domestic homicide review and independent review into Neate’s care by NHS England were under way it was unable to respond to specific questions from the Guardian.
An inquest has been opened into Brown’s death.
