Mentally ill man who killed father is sent to Carstairs

Published on Saturday 17 May 2008 01:50

A MENTALLY ill man who stabbed his father to death was yesterday ordered to be detained indefinitely in the State Hospital Carstairs.

At the High Court in Glasgow, the judge, Lord Brailsford, placed 39-year-old Gary Ward on compulsion and restriction orders.

Ward was earlier cleared of murdering his father, Jim, 62, at their home in Ayr on 7 June last year. After hearing evidence from three psychiatrists that he was insane at the time of the incident, the jury ruled that Ward was not responsible for his actions and found him not guilty in a unanimous verdict.

The court heard that Ward had heard "voices" coming from the TV and radio telling him his father was "The Jackal", a former terrorist and assassin.

Ward asked his father to put plastic cable ties on his hands so Ward could keep him at arm's length until police arrived. When Mr Ward refused, the voices said: "He is the Jackal. Get the Jackal." A harrowing recording of the 999 call Mr Ward made was played to the jury.

As Mr Ward attacked his father with a kitchen knife, screaming could be heard on the recording, and Mr Ward pleading: "Gary, you're killing me; you're killing your dad."

Mr Ward was stabbed 11 times and Ward himself also received a stab wound.

Elizabeth Ward, 64, claimed that psychiatrists knew her husband was at risk of being harmed by their son. She said they were so concerned that they tried to get the paranoid schizophrenic his own home. The couple were separated.

Mrs Ward told the court: "They knew Gary's father was possibly in danger, because the voices Gary heard were telling him to harm him. But every time Gary came out of hospital he would be sent back to live with his father.

"He couldn't get his own accommodation because he was 396th on the housing list."

She added: "I am convinced that if he had been given accommodation on his own and different drug treatment his dad might still be alive today."

Mrs Ward said she had visited her husband and son every day to make their meals and do household chores, and spent every weekend with them.

She said: "It wasn't Gary who killed his father that night. It was his mental illness.

"It's been a horrific tragedy for us all, but as a family we still love Gary and we are all standing by him and hope that one day he will get better."

Ward was previously detained on an interim compulsion order in January.

Yesterday, Lord Brailsford said: "This was a very tragic event. Although Gary Ward was the perpetrator, he at the relevant time was suffering from a mental disorder.

"It was a pleasure to hear that the treatment he has had over three months has had a beneficial effect, with the hope that at some time he can resume his life in society.

"The family of Mr Ward continue to offer him support, which is a credit to them."