They “ignored the red flags” and now a mother has died

A ‘catastrophic diagnosis’ has resulted in a family losing a mother and her son.

Alan Williams stabbed his mother Lorraine Cullen to death in her own home on Radway Road in Huyton as he believed he was planning to kill his younger sister. This “delusion” came as a result of his undetected and untreated paranoid schizophrenia, which had previously been misdiagnosed as autism.

His family say doctors “ignored red flags” as the then 21-year-old displayed a series of worrying behaviors in the months leading up to the fatal attack. Williams’ older sister told the court: “They took my brother and my mother and tore my family apart.”

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Liverpool Crown Court heard this week that Williams moved into his own flat in January 2022 after previously living with his grandparents. On the evening of May 10 of that year, he was supposed to spend the night at his mother’s address.

But Richard Pratt KC, prosecuting, described how he left the property with his eight-year-old sister shortly before midnight and returned to his own flat. Shortly after 8.15am the next day, he texted his grandfather Michael Dalzell to inform him that his younger brother was still with him.

Then, in a phone call with his grandmother Angela Dalzell, Williams confessed that he “killed his mother by hitting her in the head” and said she was “in a better place”. As a result, Mr Dalzell drove to his daughter’s house and found her lying face down in a pool of blood in the living room and covered by a duvet.

She was said to have suffered a “massive injury” to the back of her head, with three knives found near Ms Cullen’s body. The 43-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, with a post-mortem finding that she had suffered a total of 30 incised wounds to her head and upper body during the attack.

Meanwhile, police visited Williams’ apartment and found his sister asleep and “unharmed” on the couch. After his arrest, he told the PCs, “I just wanted to take care of my sister.”

He was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act and only deemed fit to interview more than a year later when he said he attacked his mother because he “believed his mother was planning to kill him” the young man, “either by drowning her. in the bathroom or by breaking his neck”.

Consultant psychiatrists at Ashworth Hospital found that Williams suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, a condition which “was not recognized and diagnosed despite a number of medical interventions and opportunities”. In December 2017, he was taken to his grandparents’ GP due to “limited social skills and limited response to circumstances”.

This led to him being referred to be assessed for autism and later diagnosed as having the disorder in February 2019. One of the experts who would assess him following Ms Cullen’s death, Dr Melanie Higgins, would go on to describe it as being a “catastrophic misdiagnosis leading to multiple missed opportunities to treat his paranoid schizophrenia.”

In 2021, Williams began suffering from “worsening paranoia and insomnia” and was reported to be “carrying a knife for self-protection because he was worried his grandmother would try to kill him”. But – despite “many bizarre behaviors and raised concerns” – no diagnosis followed, “other than the diagnosis of autism being taken for granted”.

Family members spoke of their pain and anguish as they read statements in court during Williams’ sentencing on Monday, a day before his 24th birthday. Mr Dalzell said his grandson “took great care of his mother” and described them as “enjoying a loving and happy bond”.

However, he recalled that Williams’ mental state declined around August 2021, saying, “It was like a switch went off in his head. He became confused.”

As for the incidents detailed to the court, it included hearing a “voice on the television telling him to go into the woods”, a belief that he was being poisoned by his baby, arming himself with a knife in his grandparents’ house and “writing on all the mirrors in the house with black marker”, as well as on vegetables and pieces of fruit. At one point he spent seven days as an inpatient at Whiston Hospital before being discharged home.

Mr Dalzell added: “I knew this kind and caring child – that’s not him. They ignored the red flags.

“I believe with all my heart that Alan does not need a prison sentence. He needs treatment and care.

“As a family we would be punished again if Alan went to prison and not hospital. We just want our kind and caring nephew back, no matter how long it takes.”

Like her grandfather, Williams’ adult sister Kayleigh Williams fought back tears as she read her statement and told how her brother “became seriously ill in the latter stages of 2021” following his cousin’s suicide . She told the court: “Everyone who knows him knows what a gentle soul he is and how much he adores his mother.

“He would trust me. He would be confused about how he thought people were following him around Primark.

“I would think with him and say, ‘Why would people follow you?’ But he really believed these things to be true.

“His behavior became more strange. Alan was much more sensitive than most people, to the point of being upset even if I hit a fly.

“This is not my brother. Now my mother is no longer here.

“The mental health system has done nothing but let my family down. They took my brother and my mother and broke up my family.

“My life will never be the same again. It disgusts me that this is what it took for my brother to finally get help.”

Williams is now visited by his family once a week and Mrs Williams added: ‘The change in him is incredible. When I look into his eyes, I finally see my brother again.

“Alan is in the best place for mental health care. If Alan was sent to prison, that would tear us apart even more.

“Alan is not made for prison. The events that took place was Alan physically, but not my brother mentally.”

Meanwhile, Mr Pratt read a statement from Ms Dalzell, who said: “Losing Lorraine has rocked our whole family and life will never be the same without her. Alan was always extremely caring and loving.

“Everyone who knows him considers him to be the perfect gentleman. We all noticed a difference, as if a switch had been flipped.

“I truly believe that if she had received the care and treatment she so desperately needed, we would not be here today. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could see that our grandson is sick.

“We as a family have suffered so much losing our only daughter and Alan. A prison sentence would further punish the whole family and we feel we have been quite disappointed.”

Dr Higgins was also called to give evidence during the hearing and said Williams had been the “model patient” since he was admitted to the high-security hospital in Maghull, adding: “The first word he told me about said was that it was shameful. He is traumatized by it, deeply ashamed.”

Nina Grahame KC, defending, told the court her client’s “serious undiagnosed illness was responsible for motivating his actions”. She added: “This young man is an intelligent, kind, gentle and loving young man who is susceptible to this terrible mental illness.

“He was overprotective of his family members. He meant no harm, quite the contrary.”

Williams, who has no previous convictions, admitted manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. The more serious charge of murder was ordered to be on file after his plea was found acceptable by the Crown.

Appearing via video link to Ashworth Hospital, wearing a black Under Armor zip-up top, short dark hair and a beard, he was handed a section 37/41 hospital order. This means he will receive treatment as an inpatient until the Secretary of State considers it necessary to discharge him.

Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “This is a sad and tragic case. Whether the events of the night of May 10, 2022 could have been avoided with much earlier diagnosis and intervention, we will never know for sure.

“But the views of the consultant psychiatrists in this case, and certainly the views of the family, are that there has been a total failure in mental health provision and numerous missed opportunities to identify and attempt to treat your serious and long-lasting chronic condition. paranoid schizophrenia rather than the severe psychosis you are suffering from.

“Past responses by clinicians appear to have been woefully inadequate and may be a reflection of the limitations in mental health provision currently available, or may be the result of overworked or under-resourced practitioners. Unfortunately, the experience of this court is that this situation is not a rare occurrence, and the consequence is devastation for another family.

“How long you are detained will depend on your response to treatment, the expert opinions of the medical team supervising you and the extent to which you are a continuing danger to the public. You may be detained in secure hospitals for a significant period of time.

“What happened that night is not at all clear, but what is clear is that at some point you attacked and brutally killed your mother. It seems that in your deluded mind you thought (your sister) was in danger from your mother. .

“Obviously, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In an effort to protect her, you killed your mother and took her back to your apartment.

“The level of force used is truly appalling. Now, it is fair to say that you had the terrible realization that your point of view was the effect of a delusion that was a symptom of your underlying mental health.

“As a consequence of what you did, you didn’t just take your mother Lorraine’s life. You have also irreparably devastated the lives of so many others who loved and lost this precious family member.

“It is perfectly obvious that Lorraine was a loving and caring mother and daughter whose primary concern was always for her children – including you. He tried to support everyone.

“It is a tragedy that her life was cut short. There is no evidence to suggest that the relationship between you and your mother was anything but entirely loving and positive.

“This offense only occurred because you were suffering from delusional symptoms related to your underlying condition. You and your family, unfortunately, tried diligently to get help for yourself in the past when you started showing symptoms.

“There is no evidence of any previous convictions or any history of assault. You are otherwise an ordinary young man with many positive attributes.”

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