Countdown to a deadly relationship.1993: Lynda Lovatt begins her 11-year relationship with Craig Sexton after they meet at her 18th birthday party, but gradually she starts to complain of his mental cruelty A course of conduct on the part of one spouse toward the other spouse that can endanger the mental and physical health and efficiency of the other spouse to such an extent as to render Continuance of the marital relation intolerable. towards her. May, 1997: They have a son, James. A daughter, Amy, follows in 2000. February, 2004: Lynda breaks up with shop worker Sexton and he moves out of the family home in Defoe Avenue, South Shields South Shields, city (1991 pop. 86,488), South Tyneside, NE England, at the mouth of the Tyne River. It is a significant port. Shipbuilding and marine engineering are the main industries; chemicals and paints are manufactured. . Sexton takes an overdose on February 16. May/June, 2004: In the weeks leading up to her death Sexton subjects Lynda to a barrage of abuse via text messages and mobile phone calls. Sexton threatens to kill himself. June 11, 2004: Sexton learned that Lynda had a new boyfriend June 17, 2004: Sexton becomes suicidal after learning she had started the new relationship. Mental health nurses visit him at home but feel there is nothing to suggest he would harm anyone or himself. June 18, 2004: Sexton was twice seen by a crisis assessment and treatment team and was taken to North Tyneside General Hospital North Tyneside General Hospital is part of Northumbria NHS Trust. It is closely associated with Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington. It is the main hospital serving the North Tyneside area. It is located on Rake Lane, near New York in North Shields. after his parents became concerned about his behaviour. But after guaranteeing his own safety to the team who assessed him, Sexton was discharged and told to return the next day. June 18, 2004: Within hours Sexton stabs Lynda, then 29, more than 40 times at her home in Defoe Avenue, with two knives. Police found her body. Their two children, seven-year-old James and Amy, four, sleeping upstairs, were unharmed. June 2004: Sexton was charged with her murder and made his first appearance in court. September, 2004: Sexton makes his first Newcastle Crown Court appearance. No pleas were entered and he was remanded in custody. October, 2004: He makes another appearance at crown court and denies killing Lynda. An internal review by Newcastle, North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear in the North East of England. Its seat is at the Town Hall, Wallsend. Created in 1974, the borough lies within the historic county boundaries of Northumberland. and Northumberland Mental Health Trust is completed. The results are not made public. December, 2004: At Newcastle Crown Court Sexton pleads guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility diminished responsibility or diminished capacity In law, doctrine that absolves an accused person of part of the liability for his criminal act if he suffers from such abnormality of mind as to substantially impair his responsibility in committing or being a . The plea is accepted by the prosecution after considering the psychiatric evidence. At the same time: Lynda's family, including mum Beryl Lovatt, demanded to know why Sexton had been released from hospital on the day of her death. December, 2004: Sexton's mum, Angela, apologised for her son's actions. January, 2005: An independent inquiry is launched by the Northumberland Tyne and W ear Strategic Health Authority into Sexton's treatment and care as well as Lynda's death. April, 2005: Lynda's family make an appeal to South Shields MP David Miliband for financial help from social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales . They secure funding for six months. April, 2005: Sexton is sent to a secure unit at St Nicholas' Hospital in Gosforth, as part of an interim order and 12-month assessment. February 12, 2006: Sexton is sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court to be indefinitely detained at a secure unit. May 2006: A report into Sexton's care and treatment is released almost two years after he killed Lynda. The report says the killing could not have been forseen but highlights areas where Sexton's alcohol abuse could have been treated more effectively. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion