Inquest 'Family failed by care home managers'

RECKLESS conduct at a senior manager level" allowed a teenager fascinated by necrophilia to murder an 18-year-old woman in a care home, a coroner has concluded in a scathing judgment.

- Rod MINCHIN

Maria Voisin, the senior coroner for Avon, said there was a "catalogue of failures" that allowed Jason Conroy to strangle Melissa Mathieson at a care home in Bristol in October 2014.

The teenager was attacked by Conroy, then aged 18, at Alexandra House, which provided residential care for adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Conroy, now aged 28, was jailed for life for the sexually motivated killing.

Avon Coroner's Court heard how he once tried to strangle a teacher so he could abuse her and had also attempted to kill his mother.

Conroy, originally from Guernsey, moved to Bristol from a boarding school in the Midlands following the incident with the teacher.

The school had commissioned a report from a forensic psychologist which concluded that he posed a physical risk to others because of his sexualised behaviour.

They warned the managers of Alexandra House about the risk, but this was not reflected in his care plans, which only listed basic information.