Murder suspect absconded eight times, inquest told

A woman who stabbed a pensioner to death after absconding from a mental health unit was not thought to pose a threat of violence to others, an inquest has heard.

Emma Borowy, 32, killed 74-year-old Roger Leadbeater as he walked his dog, Max, in a park in Sheffield on 9 August 2023.

Sheffield Coroner's Court heard Ms Borowy, had absconded from a ward at Royal Bolton Hospital on numerous occasions before she attacked Mr Leadbeater, and was twice found with knives when she was located by police.

However, Dr Hayley Thomas, a consultant psychiatrist, said concerns associated with her going missing were connected to her "vulnerability, risks to her health, and substance misuse" and the fear she was at risk of committing violence in the community "wasn't a real concern for us".

The inquest heard how Ms Borowy, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis, was sectioned in October 2022 and admitted to Oak Ward at the Royal Bolton after she was arrested for killing two goats with a knife.

Dr Thomas said Ms Borowy, who had been known to mental health services since 2008, had told police she had killed the goats "as a way of ensuring her own survival".

Ms Borowy admitted the offence, but showed no remorse, the hearing was told.

Police officers later found teddy bears floating in a bathtub when they searched her house, as well as a "shrine" to unicorns.

She had previously told social workers she could communicate with animals, with Dr Thomas telling the hearing they had been concerned Ms Borowy had been sleeping in a forest prior to her hospital admission.

The hearing was told that Ms Borowy went on to abscond from secure units at the Royal Bolton on at least eight occasions.

After going missing from the ward on one occasion she was found by police on the A57 in the Rother Valley, the inquest heard.

According to officers present, she was in possession of a Stanley knife and said she had "thoughts to kill others and mentioned a bloodbath".

Dr Thomas said the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust had been "unable to take it further" after Ms Borowy denied making the comment.

Dr Thomas said that after leaving the unit another time, Ms Borowy told hospital staff she would "kill someone" if she returned to the ward.

Dr Thomas said that during a conversation they had two months prior to Mr Leadbeater's death, Ms Borowy "wasn't accepting of her diagnosis" and she had also been reluctant to take medication for her psychosis.

The inquest was told that despite her repeated attempts to escape, Ms Borowy continued to be allowed periods of leave from hospital on a regular basis.

Dr Thomas said this was extended in a bid to reduce the frequency of her absconding.

"Patients don't like to be detained against their will in hospital," she said.

The decisions hospital staff made to continue discharging Ms Borowy "were very clearly thought through in relation to trying to manage somebody that would most likely be going back into the community," Dr Thomas said.

"You can't punish patients for going AWOL. It's a constant balance between the fact that you are detaining patients against their will and working with them therapeutically to move forward to move out of hospital.

"We were struggling with a lady who didn't want to conform to any of the work we were trying to do."

Ms Borowy was charged with murder, but died in prison before she stood trial.

The inquest continues.

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