Coroner demands answers over schizophrenic's attack

AUTHORITIES URGED TO ACT FOLLOWING MAN'S DECAPITATION 'OR RISK FUTURE DEATHS'

- STEPHANIE BALLOO

A CORONER has raised a series of safety concerns after a man was killed then decapitated by a paranoid schizophrenic.

Matthew Lynch, aged 43, was fatally attacked during an altercation in the garden of his supported housing in Ashwin Road, Handsworth, on July 11, 2023.

The victim was killed by Kyle Doughty, 33, who suffered from “treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia” and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last year.

Now, in a report following the final inquest, senior coroner Louise Hunt has demanded answers and explanations for failings by three organisations: Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Provident Housing and Birmingham City Council.

Issuing the Prevention of Future Deaths report, Mrs Hunt said: “There is a risk future deaths will occur unless action is taken.”

She said: “The offender was known to suffer from treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia which would be made worse if he stopped taking his medication and took illicit substances. He had been under the care of mental health services for some time.”

Doughty was last seen at a clinic on May 12, when he told staff he had stopped taking his medication. He agreed to restart it and confirmed he had changed his address. Further efforts were made to contact him, but he did not respond, prompting concerns his “mental health condition was relapsing”.