Man ‘slit his grandma’s throat’ after drinking tea together
Antony Jennings told police he had wanted to kill dementia sufferer Ruby Wilson ‘for ages’, court hears
A man slit his grandmother’s throat in her care home and then told a staff member, “I’m sorry, I’ve just killed my nan”, according to prosecutors.
Antony Jennings, 33, of Ilford, east London, allegedly killed dementia sufferer Ruby Wilson, 94, because he believed she “was dead anyway”, reports the BBC.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard that following the attack, at Buckhurst Hill Care Home, in Essex, Jennings told a police officer: “I just wanted to get that done for ages to be honest with you, mate.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He later added: “I don’t want her to suffer any more and she’s not in pain any more. She doesn’t know who anyone is. She is in agony. She was dead anyway. She was gone as far as I was concerned.”
Prosecutor Stephen Rose told the jury that a nurse had seen “Jennings and Wilson meeting and drinking tea together” in the care home lounge shortly before the alleged killing, on 29 November last year.
“Wilson appeared to be very pleased to see her grandson,” Rose said.
The court heard they then went to her room. A few minutes later, a psychiatric nurse “felt a tap on her arm”.
Rose continued: “It was Jennings. He said, ‘I'm sorry...I just killed my nan’, to which [the nurse] reacted, ‘You're joking’. He replied, ‘I'm not joking.’”
Police “recovered a Jansport backpack from the scene containing one bread knife and one kitchen knife measuring 8cm”, the BBC reports.
A post-mortem examination of the dead woman “gave the provisional cause of death as an incised wound to the neck”, says The Sun.
The court heard that Jennings was later examined by three consultant psychiatrists, “who all agreed on a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, including features of psychosis, moments of paranoia and delusions”, reports Metro.
Dorian Lovell-Pank, representing Jennings, said: “Some time before this happened, he had been seriously mentally ill.
“That of course is not an excuse for what he did, as you have heard. But it is an explanation for what he did.”
Jennings denies murdering his grandmother but has admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. The trial continues.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How the transmission of Alzheimer's might be possible
The Explainer New research links dementia cases to injections of human growth hormone from deceased donors' brains
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Neanderthal gene ‘caused up to a million Covid deaths’
Speed Read Genetic tweak found in one in six Britons means cells in the lungs are slower to launch defences
By The Week Staff Published
-
Legalising assisted dying: a complex, fraught and ‘necessary’ debate
Speed Read The Assisted Dying Bill – which would allow doctors to assist in the deaths of terminally ill patients – has relevance for ‘millions’
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Vaccinating children: it’s decision time for the health secretary as kids return to school
Speed Read Sajid Javid readying NHS England to roll out jab for children over 12, amid fears infections will rocket
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
‘Vaccination blunts, but does not defeat’: exploring Israel’s fourth Covid wave
Speed Read Two months ago, face masks were consigned to bins. Now the country is in a ‘unique moment of epidemiological doubt’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Thousands told to self-isolate in Covid app pinging error, claims Whitehall whistleblower
Speed Read Source says Matt Hancock was privately told of the issue shortly before he resigned as health secretary
By The Week Staff Published
-
Record 5.45m people on NHS England waiting lists
Speed Read Health chief warns that crisis is nearing ‘boiling point’ as backlog grows
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Covid testing: the ‘great new game of holiday roulette’
Speed Read On one day last week, the price of a private PCR test ranged from £23.99 to £575
By The Week Staff Published