Odessa Carey given hospital order over mother's decapitation

A woman who suffers from paranoid delusions who decapitated her mother has been sentenced to a hospital order.

The body of 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.

After a trial of the facts, a jury at Newcastle Crown Court decided she was responsible for her mother's death.

Mrs Carey's body was found at her home on 8 April and post-mortem tests showed she had been beaten to death.

Scissors, knives and a mallet were discovered in a bath.

Police then found her daughter hiding in the loft of a property in nearby Guide Post.

Mrs Carey's head was discovered wrapped in a pillow case and a towel in a plastic bag in the cupboard under the sink at that house.

During the trial, Judge Paul Sloan QC told the jury the defendant was acutely psychotic, suffered from paranoid delusional beliefs and did not believe the body was that of her mother.

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

In a statement, the victim's family said she had been "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," they said.

"It is too late for our mam and sister, but hopefully they will learn from our tragic loss and stop others from going through the same heartbreak."

Chris Atkinson from the Crown Prosecution Service said the defendant's mental health issues meant she would have been "unable to follow any court proceedings against her, contest any of the evidence or to provide evidence herself".

However "cumulative circumstantial evidence" showed that she was was responsible for her mother's death, he said.

Prosecutor Andrew Espley previously told the court Mrs Carey's family had feared for her safety as her daughter had been "inconsistent in taking her prescribed medication".

Sending her to a secure psychiatric hospital, Judge Sloan QC told her it was necessary to impose restrictions on her before she could ever be released due to the considerable risk she posed to the public.