Odessa Carey: Daughter responsible for beating mother to death

A woman who suffers from paranoid delusions has been found responsible for causing her mother's death whose body was found decapitated.

Odessa Carey, 73, was found at her home in Ashington, Northumberland, in April.

Her 36-year-old daughter, also named Odessa Carey, was charged with her murder but was found not to be fit enough to stand trial.

A trial of facts jury at Newcastle Crown Court took an hour to decide she was responsible for the death.

The defendant will be sentenced on Thursday at the same court.

The jury was asked not to return a verdict of guilty or not guilty, but to decide whether she caused the death of her mother.

Nicholas Lumley QC, prosecuting, said Mrs Carey's decapitated body was found at her home on 8 April and post-mortem tests showed she had been beaten to death.

A number of implements, including a large pair of scissors, knives and a mallet, were found in the bath.

The same day, the prosecution said, police found Ms Carey hiding in the loft in a property in Guide Post.

A human head was discovered wrapped in a pillow case and a towel in a plastic bag in the cupboard under the sink at the house.

The court heard Ms Carey had visited a family friend at an allotment the day before with blood on her and carrying a human head in a carrier bag.

Judge Paul Sloan QC told jurors: "The defendant is acutely psychotic.

"It is likely that the diagnosis is one of psychosis. She suffers from paranoid delusional beliefs.

"She does not believe that the body was that of her mother.

"She is acutely unwell. So far all attempts to treat her have not been successful."

A statement from the Carey family said they had been let down by the mental health services.

It said: "Our mam was a loving, caring woman who would help anyone that needed it.

"She also loved to talk to anybody she met. She was taken from us too soon and had a lot more to give.

"Sadly she was taken from us in a horrific and vicious attack by our younger sister, who had suffered mental health issues for many years.

"We believe that the mental health system failed us and vast improvements need to be made."