This was an explosion just waiting to happen

GRANDMOTHER'S VIEW ON WHAT LED TO SON MURDERING HIS MUM.

- AMY WALKER

MARY Galvin was at home when she received a frantic call from her grandson. In garbled, confused speech she quickly realised something was seriously wrong.

She urged him to get help but it wasn't until a few days later when an officer knocked on her door and confirmed the sad truth her daughter was dead and her grandson was charged with her murder.

Stephen Ball, 32, later pleaded guilty to the unlawful killing of his mother Susanne Galvin, 55, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and his mental health issues would become a centrepoint for his trial at Bolton Crown Court. Ultimately, jurors found him guilty of her murder.

At the trial, his grandmother, Mary, revealed the devastating reality, and disturbing consequences, of her family's troubles with mental health.

"As far as I was concerned, both Stephen and Susanne were mentally unstable," she began.

Susanne had suffered for years, firstly with alcohol-related mental health issues and then dementia, her mum said.

Mary helped look after her two boys, Stephen and Michael. She had them on and off over a number of years until being granted a residential order for them both by the family court.

They were a close family unit, though she noted that Michael 'didn't have a lot of time for his mum. He kept a close eye on Stephen, though, providing support to him when he needed it.

Stephen was diagnosed with ADHD in his teens, though Susanne wouldn't allow him to be medicated, she said.

His mental health continued to plague him. He would struggle to concentrate at school, instead focusing on more physical activities like running and boxing. Meanwhile, Susanne suffered.

When Stephen reached 18 he began taking drugs. Mary was aware and would tell him it 'wasn't good for his brain, but he continued.