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Karma: 52 |  | Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices'
« Thread Started on May 22, 2012, 1:58pm » | |
A mother heard voices in her head and hallucinated just before she
strangled her toddler and carried his body to a police station, an
inquest heard.
Melanie Ruddell spoke for the first time about the death of her two-year-old son Christy via video link from a secure unit where she is being treated for a mental illness.
The 40-year-old, of Castle Eden, near Hartlepool, killed her son at her brother’s home in West Rainton, near Durham, before driving his body to
Peterlee police station in August 2010.
She was later detained under the Mental Health Act after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the horrific incident - from a secure unit in Teesside - a tearful Ms Ruddell said: 'I felt anxious and I was frightened for Christy.
'I was confused, very confused. I heard voices and screaming. I couldn’t
connect anything with reality.
'I was frightened of friends and family.
'I was scared to a point where it felt as though I was hanging off a cliff. I
was exhausted.'
The inquest, held at Sunderland Civic Centre, heard Mrs Ruddell’s mental state worsened after the breakdown of her marriage to husband Alan.
She told the hearing she had been a ‘happy mam’ at home with Christy and loved him, but felt anxious and frightened for him.
After friends and family grew concerned, she went to the A&E department
at the University Hospital of Hartlepool for treatment.
But after being seen by a doctor, she discharged herself from the unit before a psychiatric assessment as she was in a rush to be reunited with her son, who was with her brother at his home in West Rainton.
She said: 'The doctor said he would like me to see the team of people at the hospital.
'I said "I’ve got to get back to Christy". I just couldn’t think properly.'
She spoke about her return to her brother’s home and said: 'I wanted the police to come and protect us. It was two o’clock in the morning. I thought "That’s it, we are going to be separated for ever and ever".
'Everything was hopeless.'
Her friend, Carol-Ann Beeston, also gave evidence at the hearing about how she tried in vain to keep Ms Ruddell at the hospital, knowing she needed professional help.
'She was so deranged at this point,' said Ms Beeston. 'She was talking a load of gobbledygook.'
Ms Beeston added: 'She was a really good mother, but that weekend she was very agitated.
'It was as if someone else was in her body. I had never seen her like this.
'She was frightened she might harm herself. I didn’t think she would harm
Christy.
'I actually begged them to keep her in. I knew she should be in hospital, not to be going home.
'She wanted to discharge herself. There was nothing they could do.'
Mrs Beeston said hospital staff told her there was nowhere to admit her to, so she decided to leave.
Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton said Christy’s death was caused by strangulation with a dressing gown cord.
He said there was also a stab wound to the chest, which was up to 40mm deep, but it had not passed through any vital organs.
Sunderland coroner Derek Winter yesterday formally re-opened the inquest into Christy’s death.
The hearing, which is being attended by many friends and family of the
youngster, is expected to last two weeks.
Mrs Ruddell has been receiving treatment for her illness since Mr Justice McCombe sentenced her to an indefinite hospital order at Newcastle Crown Court in February last year.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-....l#ixzz1vbgSlvxG
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Karma: 287 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #1 on May 22, 2012, 3:40pm » | |
Could not the hospital have sectioned the woman there and then. There is always an emergency team on call.?
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Stelio Kontos
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Karma: 52 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #2 on May 23, 2012, 7:06am » | |
The problem with so many people claiming to hear voices these days is that when someone is genuinely dangerous it is almost ignored
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paulcocteau
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Karma: 4 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #3 on May 25, 2012, 8:40pm » | |
It sounds, sadly, like she took her own discharge. Had she remained for the psychiatric team to carry out her assessment they could well have sectioned her if they felt she was a danger to herself or others. She may have even been persuaded to be admitted to a unit voluntarily if she had had had a chance to talk to someone.
The difficulty is many people who describe hearing voices in this sense are not automatically killers. I suspect though, in this case she may well have been detained had she seen the right people.
The A&E staff could have informed the Police that she had left and they considered her a danger to herself or others. The Police could then have intervened and removed her to a place of safety.
Very tragic though that for the sake of waiting to see the psych team this could have all been avoided.
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Stelio Kontos
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Karma: 52 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #4 on May 26, 2012, 4:49pm » | |
I have often said that the only difference between a psychopath and a psychic is that the voices in the pasychopaths head tell them to kill. The basic psychosis is pretty much the same
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paulcocteau
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« Reply #5 on May 27, 2012, 9:47pm » | |
I know it's semantics but technically a psychopath does not generally hear or respond to voices. Psychopathy is distinct from psychosis.
A psychopath is someone deemed to have a type of personality disorder in which he or she has an inability to feel remorse, have a lack of empathy with others and is generally considered untreatable.
Someone who suffers with a psychosis will often describe hearing voices, sometimes experiencing hallucinations and often having fixed and unmovable and sometimes quite distorted beliefs or delusions. e.g that they are jesus or get special messages from radios, tv or a myriad of other methods of communication.
In my experience people with a psychosis, when treated and well, can look back on their previous behaviour and see that it was delusional.
In the case of psychics they just perpetuate the delusion as it gives them a status and even though they are fully aware of the nonsense they claim, they have often invested too much in the belief to come clean and admit that it's all made up.
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Stelio Kontos
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Karma: 52 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #6 on May 28, 2012, 9:18am » | |
there is nearly always that moment of realisation with psychics, the day when they realise their delusion is just that, the choice they then take often fascinates me.
Of course psychics who have a genuine psychosis will not have such a day as they do actually hallucinate and hear voices
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paulcocteau
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Karma: 4 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #7 on May 28, 2012, 12:56pm » | |
It fascinates me too.
But I suppose while there are so many people prepared to accept that "there may be something in it" their path is laid out for them.
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Stelio Kontos
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Karma: 52 | | Re: Mother who strangled toddler son 'heard voices
« Reply #8 on May 28, 2012, 3:56pm » | |
As long as you have conmen, you will always have gullible people who believe "there may be something in it"
One doesn't come without the other
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