Why was mentally ill drug addict freed to kill my husband?
The widow of an antiques expert stabbed to death in poundland as he bought balloons for their children criticised the authorities yesterday as his mentally-ill killer was jailed for life.
Gulsen alkan said her husband Justin Skrebowski, 61, might still be alive if there had been better communication between doctors.
Mr Skrebowski died from a single stab wound on his wife’s birthday after being attacked by schizophrenic Trevor Joyce at a poundland store in abingdon, oxfordshire, last december.
Joyce, a drug addict and alcoholic with a history of violence, grabbed a 20in knife from the shelf and tore open the packaging before plunging the weapon into his defenceless victim and leaving him to bleed to death. one witness described Joyce as having ‘rage in his
‘This is what you get’
eyes’. The killer then roamed through the town centre brandishing the knife and a 5in-long carving fork at strangers and threatening to kill them.
Mrs alkan, 39, has since led a successful campaign calling for knives to be stored more securely in shops. home Secretary Theresa May agreed to enshrine it in law earlier this year.
yesterday Mrs alkan watched as Joyce was given life at the old Bailey and ordered to serve a minimum of nine years after admitting manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
he is being held at Broadmoor hospital and will not begin his prison sentence until doctors consider his mental health has improved sufficiently.
The court heard Joyce had abused crack cocaine, heroin, alcohol and synthetic cannabis for years before the attack. he had suffered mental health problems for years and been sectioned for a month last June as his behaviour became increasingly erratic. Joyce, 37, from abingdon, was re-admitted to hospital in october after hearing voices but discharged a week later against the wishes of the doctor overseeing his treatment.
on december 7 Mr Skrebowski, who lived in the oxford area and worked in portobello road, West london, was buying balloons for his three-year-old twins to celebrate their mother’s birthday. Joyce, who had walked into the town to meet his mental health worker, was in the same store.
In a completely random and unprovoked act he suddenly plunged a large kitchen knife into Mr Skrebowski’s buttock so deeply it severed a major artery. Witnesses heard him say ‘this is what you get’. he went on to threaten strangers in the town centre, telling a mother he would stab her child and saying to a man on a bench: ‘I am going to kill you because I haven’t had any sleep for 20 years.’
The court heard Joyce was first diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia in 2003 and his condition was ‘complicated by multiple drug abuse’. his drug use had increased in the weeks leading up the killing.
outside court Mrs alkan said she wanted answers from the authorities who let her husband down. ‘Joyce had a history of drug use, alcohol use and threatening to kill people with knives,’ she said. ‘leading up to december, his condition had been getting worse.
‘ his doctors knew this, his social workers knew this. In october Joyce requested a voluntary stay at a hospital, only to be released a week later – back into the community, against the advice of the doctors.
‘Justin’s killing should have been avoided if there had been better communication.
‘This is a disaster for me and our small children. I want lessons to be learned so this doesn’t happen to any other family.’