Parents' fury as killer released after three years

6:43pm Friday 21st November 2008

By Oliver Evans

A PARANOID schizophrenic who killed a 24-year-old Chesham man has been released from hospital after three years, to the fury of the victim’s parents.

Robert Browning stabbed former housemate Ben Cargill nine times at an outdoor concert in Lowndes Park, Chesham in August 2004.

Now stunned mum Judy and dad Jim say police have told them he is living in Buckinghamshire, but not in Chesham and Amersham.

The NHS authority which assessed Browning for release said they could not comment on individual cases – but said “well enough” patients were released into the community.

Mum Judy, 57, said she had to race to the bathroom and was nearly sick after being told the news at the couple’s home in Rose Drive, Chesham.

She said today: “We feel like we have been kicked in the stomach – it is appalling. I didn’t think he would be released for 10 to 15 years.”

Mrs Cargill, a school supervisor, said: “I feel insulted. The authorities have let Ben down, I feel sometimes like I have let him down but I know it is outside of our control.”

Browning was 22 when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and was sentenced to “indefinite detention” at a secure mental hospital in February 2005.

Mr Cargill, 61, said: “I feel that justice hasn’t been done. He was only sentenced three years ago and now they have let him go. It beggars belief.”

The news had spread to friends of Ben, a landscape gardener known to them as Beano, he said.

He said: “The police called and said they had something to discuss in the case.

”We didn’t know what it might be. We did toy with the idea of him being released but we thought “no, it has not been enough time”.”

Mr Cargill, a gardener, added: “We don’t have a vendetta against the guy – we just want justice.”

Browning’s trial at Reading Crown Court heard he attacked Ben because he thought the victim, along with others, was trying to “control his mind”.

He had been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder the previous year and doctors had deemed him suitable to live in the community.

But he had failed to take his medication, the court heard, and his mother reported her concerns to the NHS two months before the attack.

Sally O’Neill QC, in mitigation, said: “This is a tragedy that possibly could have been avoided if the appropriate authorities had dealt with the defendant.”

A meeting was arranged for July 27 but cancelled and five days later the attack happened, on Sunday August 1 2004. Ben would have been 25 the next day.

Football fan Ben was stabbed in the back and neck and died at the scene. Browning, formerly of Bellington Road, Chesham, immediately gave himself up at Chesham Police Station.

A surgeon who witnessed the attack said the knife blows were “like that in the film Psycho”.

Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust said at the time it was an “isolated incident”.

In a statement today Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Trust, which superseded the trust in 2006, said: “The trust is unable to comment on individual patient's cases as we take our obligation to protect the confidentiality of our patients very seriously. This is the case for all NHS Trusts.

“We assess the needs of our patients continually to ensure they are receiving their care in the most appropriate environment."

It said: “When patients are treated in an inpatient setting, it is normal practice to gradually and with appropriate safeguards, move them back into the community when they are well enough.

“This is done with continued support and regular monitoring from our community teams, and arrangements can be made to admit patients back into an inpatient environment if needed.”

The First–tier Tribunal (Mental Health), which makes final decisions on release of prisoners detained under the Mental Health Act, said it could not comment on individual cases.

A spokesman said: "The Tribunal’s main purpose is to review the cases of patients detained under the Mental Health Act and to direct the discharge of any patients where the statutory criteria for discharge have been satisfied.

"These cases involve making a balanced judgement on a number of serious issues such as the protection of the public and the best interests of the patient."