Findings of review into beheading by daughter expected
REPORT BY NHS IS IMMINENT
IT was a tragedy that left a community stunned and a family searching for answers.
And more details of the care given to mentally ill Odessa Carey, who killed her mother before cutting off her head, look set to be revealed in the new year.
NHS England commissioned a national review into the case after Carey was detained in a secure hospital following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Jurors heard how her mum, who had the same name, was found dead on a bed at her home in Ashington, Northumberland, in April 2019. The 73-year-old had been decapitated.
Carey, then 36, is said to have carried her mother’s head around in a bag before hiding it in a cupboard under a sink at a friend’s house.
Jurors were told Carey was too unwell to give a plea to the original charge of murder but they found she did the acts of killing her mum after a trial of the facts.
After the trial Odessa Snr’s other children blasted mental health services for letting their family down.
The Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, whose care Carey was under, has confirmed it has carried out an internal review to see whether anything could have been done differently.
NHS England also commissioned its own independent investigation into the case, with the findings set to be published early next year.
A spokesman said: “NHS England,
which has commissioned the independent investigation, expects to be in a position to publish the report early next year.”
Odessa Snr, who suffered from arthritis and needed a mobility scooter to get around, died of serious head injuries.
At a hearing before the trial, which the jury were not told about, doctors said Carey was likely to have paranoid schizophrenia, and wasn’t responding to treatment.
After the trial Odessa’s family paid tribute to the great-grandmother as they hit out at the mental health services that were supposed to help Carey.
And Sharon O’Brien, who had been in a relationship with
Carey, told The Chronicle how when she visited Carey while she was on remand at HMP Low Newton in Durham, she did not know what she had done. She also thought Sharon was a “clone” and the real Sharon had been killed.
And on the first anniversary of the tragedy, Sharon revealed how, in phone calls from hospital, Carey has been asking pals if anyone had seen her mum. In a statement, Odessa’s other children said they hoped lessons could be learned from the tragedy to spare other families from the same devastation. “Our mam will be sadly missed by all,” they said. “Sadly she was taken from us in a horrific and vicious attack by our younger sister, who had suffered mental health issues for many years.
“Our mam was a loving, caring woman who would help anyone that needed it. She also loved to talk to anybody she met. She was taken from us too soon.
“We believe that the mental health system failed us and vast improvements need to be made. It is too late for our mam and sister, but hopefully they will learn from our tragic loss and stop others from going through the same heartbreak.”
A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) has been launched into the tragedy. DHRs are carried out whenever somebody dies as the result of the actions of a partner or family member. They aim to establish what lessons can be learned.