The children of a man who killed his wife in a psychotic episode, before taking his own life, have told the BBC they do not blame their father for what happened.<\/p>\n
Chris and Ruth Stone-Houghton died in September 2022 at their home in Portsmouth.<\/p>\n
An inquest found there had been a \u00ab\u00a0failure to fully support\u00a0\u00bb the family after Chris was discharged from a psychiatric hospital weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
Their son Oliver said \u00ab\u00a0we don’t need to forgive him. I never once questioned that it was anything other than his illness\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it had \u00ab\u00a0learnt from this case\u00a0\u00bb to improve care for patients in a mental health crisis and their families.<\/p>\n
Chris and Ruth were loving and caring parents, Oliver and Abbie Stone-Houghton said, and devoted to one another.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We had such a brilliant childhood, and even in their adult life we were so close with both of them,\u00a0\u00bb explained Abbie.<\/p>\n
Chris ran a jewellery business which Ruth had also worked in. He had no previous mental health issues but as the company struggled during the Covid pandemic, eventually closing in April 2022, he began to experience delusional thoughts.<\/p>\n
He became increasingly paranoid, wrongly believing he was being listened to by his phone and computer, and terrified someone was out to get him. He became withdrawn, looked noticeably frailer and experienced suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0He didn’t feel like he had anything to offer anymore,\u00a0\u00bb his son Oliver, now 30, remembered.<\/p>\n
Chris was eventually diagnosed with psychotic depression, and in July 2022 attempted to take his own life.<\/p>\n
He was sectioned and placed on a mental health ward at St James’ Hospital in Portsmouth, run by the local NHS trust, where the family believed he would spend several months.<\/p>\n
Within four weeks, he was discharged back home against the family’s wishes. Ruth was \u00ab\u00a0terrified\u00a0\u00bb that her husband would further self-harm, the inquest heard.<\/p>\n
Being a loving family worked against them, Oliver said, believing staff felt \u00ab\u00a0they didn’t have to worry so much about him being returned home than perhaps in other cases\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We didn’t really get any advice on what to do, what not to do,\u00a0\u00bb said Abbie. \u00ab\u00a0We were just doing what we thought was right and just hoping for the best really.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Denzel Mitchell, who worked at St James’ Hospital, said the decision to discharge was made in large part because Mr Stone-Houghton had not self-harmed or had psychotic episodes on the ward.<\/p>\n
Coroner Rachel Spearing found that though the decision was \u00ab\u00a0appropriate\u00a0\u00bb, the way it was carried out was \u00ab\u00a0unsafe\u00a0\u00bb, with an \u00ab\u00a0inadequate risk assessment\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Chris had a history of refusing anti-psychotic medication at home, and had to be cajoled into taking it in hospital, but this was not adequately considered. The family had not been fully supported given the burden placed on them to ensure he took his medication, Ms Spearing added.<\/p>\n
She found it was \u00ab\u00a0unlikely\u00a0\u00bb he had taken his medication at the time of the deaths.<\/p>\n
There had also been a lack of access to support, the inquest heard. Chris had not received psychological intervention in hospital, because the ward did not have a psychologist.<\/p>\n
Once back home, his community crisis team twice asked for Chris to have early intervention for psychosis treatment, the best and quickest option available, but this was denied.<\/p>\n
Chris was 66, and the NHS trust’s cut-off age for the service was 65.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Had he had that treatment, we don’t know what would have happened,\u00a0\u00bb said Oliver.<\/p>\n
Chris was instead placed on a year-long waiting list for specialised talking therapy support.<\/p>\n
The plan was for the family to alert the crisis team if they noted signs of relapse, the inquest heard, but no formal carer’s assessment had been carried out for Ruth, 60, who looked after her husband.<\/p>\n
On 14 September 2022, Chris killed Ruth at their family home in Portsmouth before taking his own life. Coroner Rachel Spearing concluded he was \u00ab\u00a0in the likely grip of a psychotic episode\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She said the deaths could not have been predicted, and that Chris and Ruth were a \u00ab\u00a0loving and happy\u00a0\u00bb couple.<\/p>\n
Oliver and Abbie said they were \u00ab\u00a0extremely close\u00a0\u00bb as a family, and do not hold their father responsible for what happened.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We both feel very strongly and know in our hearts,\u00a0\u00bb said Oliver, \u00ab\u00a0that [dad] wasn’t capable of this as a sane, rational person, and that it was the illness that had caused these events to happen in that way.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We don’t let it affect our memories of them both.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement that it expressed \u00ab\u00a0our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ruth and Christopher\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
It added: \u00ab\u00a0We have learnt from this case, and others, to continually improve how we care for and support people who are in a mental health crisis, and their families.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, support is available from organisations listed by BBC Action Line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The children of a man who killed his wife in a psychotic episode, before taking his own life, have told the BBC they do not blame their father for what happened. Chris and Ruth Stone-Houghton died in September 2022 at their home in Portsmouth. An inquest found there had been a \u00ab\u00a0failure to fully support\u00a0\u00bb […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}