An artist with schizophrenia fatally stabbed a dog walker after being released from a mental hospital, despite prior warnings of her discussing harming people, according to an inquest.
Emma Borowy, 32, was sectioned after stealing and slaughtering two goats in a ‘witchcraft’ ceremony.
The woman, a mother-of-one, was repeatedly granted short periods of leave from the facility even though she had a history of running away and being caught with a knife on two occasions.
On August 7 last year she was given 30 minutes’ escorted leave to visit a shop near the psychiatric unit in Bolton, Greater Manchester.
However she ran off and travelled to Sheffield where two days later she launched a frenzied attack against Roger Leadbeater.
The 74-year-old – who was walking his springer spaniel Max in a park – was stabbed more than 50 times.
Today an inquest heard that she had been allowed off the unit despite absconding on August 4, on which occasion she was found in a bush in Sheffield.
Borowy had gone to visit a friend who then contacted South Yorkshire Police to say she was ‘scared’ of what she might do.
Artist Emma Borowy, 32, was sectioned after stealing and slaughtering two goats in a ‘witchcraft’ ceremony
Borowy was charged with murdering council worker Roger Leadbeater (pictured) in a Sheffield park in August
‘She is concerned about Emma as she has assaulted people previously and discussed murdering people,’ a police report read to the hearing stated.
The friend also told officers: ‘Emma gets angry easily and wants to murder people.’
Surprisingly, there was no mention of the threat she posed in her medical records, which were only updated after the police brought her back to the hospital.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Dilraj Sohi insisted that ward staff would have asked police for any ‘relevant’ information.
He confirmed he hadn’t met Borowy before granting her leave on August 4, having just taken over as her doctor.
Asked by senior coroner Tanyka Rawden if this was ‘acceptable’, Dr Sohi said ward notes assessed her as ‘settled’ in preceding days.
The hearing was told that just over two weeks before she killed Mr Leadbeater, an assessment had highlighted Borowy’s ‘aggression’ and that she had placed ‘others at risk’ during previous escapes from hospital.
After killing Mr Leadbeater, Borowy said she had been ‘receiving messages from Lucifer’.
Pictured is the family of Roger Leadbeater at the inquest in Sheffield
Borowy had previously been arrested for slaughtering two pet goats in a form of ‘sacrifice’ and allegedly threatened to ‘stab someone in the heart’
She later said she hadn’t slept or taken her anti-psychotic medication for three days.
But Dr Sohi said he was unable to say whether Borowy ‘knew what she was doing’.
Coroner Ms Rawden asked the psychiatrist whether the speed of her deterioration made him ‘reflect’ on whether Borowy should have been granted leave.
Dr Sohi replied that he had ‘reflected a lot’, but that he would probably have approved it even if he had assessed her face-to-face first.
‘We do live in hope that people will improve when we try to work with them,’ he added.
The inquest has heard that because Borowy’s symptoms were stabilising, doctors had no choice but to prepare her to be discharged.
Asking questions on behalf of Mr Leadbeater’s family, niece Angela Hector asked whether Dr Sohi had fully considered Borowy’s violent outbursts.
These included an incident on July 11 last year when she ‘repeatedly punched’ a nurse on the ward.
On July 3, Borowy was also caught trying to smuggle a knife out of the dining area by hiding it up her sleeve.
Relatives of Mr Leadbeater have demanded to know why doctors kept granting her spells of leave despite Borowy (pictured) repeatedly going missing for days at a time
Dr Sohi replied that Borowy’s violence on the ward was ‘fundamental’ to the decision to allow her spells away from the unit as it occurred in the ‘context’ of being ‘restricted’.
Mr Leadbeater was described by his family as a ‘good, hard-working and decent man’ whose job was to drive children with special needs to school.
Borowy was charged with his murder, but four months later she was herself found dead in prison after a ‘suspected suicide’.
Relatives of Mr Leadbeater have demanded to know why doctors kept granting her spells of leave despite Borowy repeatedly going missing for days at a time.
The inquest has heard she had become convinced that she was ‘an alien’ and that that extra-terrestrials could contact her through a special crystal.
The hearing continues.
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit
