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Inquest into death of Terence Wotton, of Mackenzie Way, Gravesend, begins at Gravesend Old Town Hall

A grandfather was killed by his schizophrenic son after he stabbed him 10 times, an inquest heard.

Terence Ernest Wotton, 71, died at his home in Mackenzie Way, Gravesend, after his son Tony Wotton, 47, repeatedly attacked him with a knife on September 12, 2011.

An inquest began on Monday into the killing of Mr Wotton, who was born in Dartford and was married to Emma Wotton – better known as Joan. The hearing is expected to last five days.

Terry Wotton
Terry Wotton

In a statement read out on her behalf, Mrs Wotton described her husband as “well liked and a wonderful husband and cook” who was also a keen golfer.

A post-mortem, conducted by forensic pathologist Dr Olef Biedrzycki at Darent Valley Hospital, found that Mr Wotton suffered stab wounds to his back, left forearm and above his right knee.

Dr Biedrzycki stated: “There are no other natural diseases that may have caused or contributed to the death.” One of the most significant wounds to Mr Wotton was to his left forearm which was as deep as 16cm.

Recalling the night of the killing, Mrs Wotton said in a statement: “I was woken up when I heard Tony shout up the stairs ‘get up you evil thing you’. First thing I saw was Tony holding a knife. Tony was holding the knife...in a downward position within a couple of feet of Terry.

“It happened so quickly and was very frenzied. I shouted ‘leave him alone’.

“Tony then ran down the stairs. I think he realised what he had done.

“Terry has always felt that at some point Tony would harm him and was always dubious of him.”

On September 10, 2011, a crisis team visited Tony and said they had no grounds to admit him back to hospital, according to Mrs Wotton.

The inquest heard how Tony’s struggle with mental illness became visible in his teenage years.

His sister Diane Ludlow said: “As he got older he got bullied quite often. He never really discussed it but I would always intervene if I was around to stop it within school.

“He had difficulties with his sexuality. At first, he wouldn’t accept it and wouldn’t discuss it. I don’t think he wanted to be gay but he didn’t have a choice at that time.

“He became tearful and said he could see colours and was making strange comments. He said he could see spiders crawling over him and snakes and that sort of thing.”

In adulthood, Tony had a number of violent outbursts. This included stabbing someone in the arm at his workplace at Lambeth Council, and threatening his father with a knife in 2007.

The former outburst led to a dismissal from his position as a clerk, but was not reported to the police. Soon after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

On several occasions, Tony refused to take his medication believing he did not need it.

Describing what Tony was like when he was not taking his medication, Mrs Ludlow said: “Aggressive, abusive, nasty in his aggressiveness especially towards my dad.

“Six to eight weeks after he stopped taking his medication you would see the aggressiveness coming in.”

Members of the crisis team who visited Tony are due to give evidence to the inquest this week to ensure they made the right decision not to readmit him to hospital.

The inquest continues.

At a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court in June 2012, it was revealed that Tony Wotton referred to his father as a “vampire”, saying “the devil is going to get you” before killing him.

The paranoid schizophrenic admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility after the court heard how his personality changed when he did not take his medication – demonstrating hostility towards his father.

A crisis team of medical professionals visited Tony before the stabbing on September 12, 2011, but found no grounds to readmit him to hospital, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

He was handed an indefinite hospital order with restrictions, and cannot be considered for release without the approval of the Home Secretary.

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