The children of Sue and Roger Goswell said they felt "let down by the system" after their father killed their mother and then drove his car into a tree, killing himself.

Mr Goswell left a psychiatric hospital less than a week before he murdered his wife on Sunday. Could mental health services do more to prevent such tragedies? Andy Dickenson reports

Nearly one person a week dies at the hands of a psychiatric patient.

The murder of Sue Goswell by her husband Roger was the most recent crime linked to mental health patients who have slipped through the psychiatric system.

On Sunday night last week, he stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife and hit her over the head with a mallet.

He left their £700,000 house in West Chiltington Common, near Storrington, and killed himself by driving the couple's Smart car into a tree.

Mr Goswell, 66, had been treated at two hospitals for mental health problems in the month before the deaths.

Mrs Goswell, 63, reportedly told neighbours she did not feel "safe or comfortable" about him returning home, three days after her birthday.

Their children, Sarah, Joseph, Rebecca and son-in-law Alex have since issued a statement saying: "Our father was a tortured soul and unfortunately in the end we feel they were both let down by the system."

In the past five years 249 people have been killed by released psychiatric patients.

A report by the National Director of Mental Health, Louis Appleby, last year revealed that a third of the killings were carried out by patients not thought to be a danger.

One in six of the deaths was blamed on patients not taking their medication.

But Paul Corry, director of public affairs for mental health charity Rethink, said there had been little change in the rate of the murders for 50 years, despite the closure of oldfashioned psychiatric hospitals.

He said: "There are something like 800 homicides a year in this country.

"The proportion carried out by people with psychological problems has actually fallen since the 1950s, when there were about 500 murders a year. That figure itself has remained steady at around 40 to 55. It's the overall total of murders that has increased. Of course, the difference between then and now is that in the 1950s a lot of people with mental health problems were in long-stay psychological hospitals.

"These hospitals aren't around now so people are being cared for in the community.

"You may have expected the number of homicides to increase because of that but they haven't."

The sentiment will, of course, come as little consolation to Sue Goswell's family but their father, as Mr Corry submits, would not have been the first to fall through the mental health system's net.

According to medical sources he had been treated for depression over a number of years before he was admitted to the Harold Kidd Unit in Chichester at the end of November.

He was not sectioned under the Mental Health Act but instead transferred to the private Priory Hospital in Hove before being released on Monday, December 17.

Mr Corry said: "The current system works very well for some people most of the time but when you get these relatively rare incidents you usually find exactly the same problems.

"The first is that the person concerned or their family had appealed for help but the help wasn't forthcoming.

"It certainly seems from the reports in the media that Mrs Goswell had been in contact with the police and the children with the health services, and yet they didn't get the help they thought they needed.

"The second problem is that usually there has been a breakdown in communication between the different agencies involved.

"Mr Goswell was in a private hospital.

That may mean there were some communication issues between statutory services and the private hospital.

"You usually find that people with a long history of mental health problems will have used lots of different services and there are problems with the sharing of that information.

"The more agencies you have involved the more likely there are going to be problems around communication."

Sussex Partnership NHS Trust is working with police and the coroner's office but has refused to be drawn on whether a review or inquiry would be launched into Mr Goswell's death.

A spokesman said: "Mr Goswell passed through our services but we were not responsible for looking after him afterwards."

The Priory Hospital has refused to comment on the deaths but one question sure to be asked is whether Mr Goswell received an adequate assessment before he was sent home.

Mr Corry said: "With most of these cases, if you look at them in detail, there are signs that are very often ignored. Very often it's a family member saying they need help but they don't get it.

"However, it often tends to be the case that people get sectioned when they shouldn't be - that help should be provided without recourse to the Mental Health Act.

"It's not really difficult to section someone. You just need two doctors to agree and a social worker to fill out the forms. The process could be completed in a matter of hours.

"But one of the big problems is what's called the right to assessment'.

A person or their family can say they think there is a problem but professionals can say we don't' and just ignore them without actually examining their case properly.

"We have campaigned that you should be able to see a psychological nurse or doctor to assess their situation.

At the moment you don't even have to be seen. People should have the legal right to an assessment."

Mr Appleby's report into homicides and suicides also highlighted the main issues leading to tragedies such as the Goswells' as a lack of proper supervision, medical staff failing to appreciate how dangerous a patient is, and confused people being left to fend for themselves.

Another factor that could have played a part in Mr Goswell's struggle could have been the festive season itself.

Mental health charity SANE has launched a campaign to highlight the psychological issues often heightened at Christmas.

It is operating a telephone helpline throughout the festivities for those for whom the time around Christmas and the new year can be the most isolating time of the year.

Mr Corry said: "The general problem around Christmas is that services are closed down and families come together and there are tensions around that.

"You do see an upsurge in domestic violence being reported and suicides. It's a stressful period, as well as being a relaxing one for the majority of people.

"But there needs to be greater communication and patients and their families need to be listened to, their concerns acted upon.

"If we're ever going to chip away at these figures those changes need to be made."

  • SANE's helpline is open between 1pm and 11pm on 0845 767 8000.