Desperate family of Leeds teen 'wanted him sectioning' months before brutal killing of his own grandmother
The family of a paranoid teenager who stabbed his sleeping grandmother to death “feel let down”, having desperately sought help in the months before the tragedy.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Brandon Skelton’s mother had tirelessly asked for assistance and wanted him “sectioned” for his own safety and that of others.
The 17-year-old had gone to stay with his grandparents in Wortley in October 2023, having shown severe symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, which was undiagnosed at the time.
He attacked 60-year-old Mandy Barnett in her bed with a kitchen knife, stabbing her at least a dozen times with “severe and extreme force”.
Skelton, now 19, will now be detained in a secure unit after a judge gave him a hospital order.
During his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Michael Smith said Skelton’s condition had “reached crisis point” leading up to that night.
He added: “Brandon’s mother and other members of the family had tried to get help for him. By the time of the killing, they were unable to get the level of care they believed he needed.
“The family do feel let down by the contact with mental-health services.
“Other reviews are ongoing and will perhaps shed more light on that.”
Mitigating for Skelton, Mohammed Nawaz KC added: “It’s possible that some opportunities were missed in this case.”
It was heard that his family had contacted the Becklin Centre - a psychiatric unit in Leeds - to detain him.
His paranoid thoughts, particularly the idea that people were trying to harm him, became “more acute” in the weeks before Mrs Barnett’s killing.
He carried a knife and kept weapons under his bed. He was also taking cannabis daily and was known to use ecstasy and cocaine “regularly”, which the judge, Recorder Guy Kearl KC said may have contributed.
He added: “Those illicit drugs did not help. Indeed it is likely that they caused his condition to worsen.”
Skelton’s family were in contact with doctors, the drug-counselling service Forward Leeds, and CAMHS, the mental-health service for young people.
At one point his mother even took him to A&E after he made claims he wanted to “hurt somebody”.
In early October, 2023, the early-intervention psychosis service, Aspire, said further assessment was required.
Days later he went to stay with his grandparents, having never shown any aggression or intent towards them previously.
On the day of Mrs Barnett’s death, October 23, 2023, his mother contacted Aspire again to say his condition was worsening.
She was told his psychosis was drug-induced and that a worker would be assigned who would be “in touch shortly”, but it proved too late.
Without warning, that night Skelton walked into his grandparents’ bedroom at their house on Prince Edward Grove and lunged at his sleeping grandmother. Her injuries were described in court as being “unsurvivable”.
Skelton admitted what he had done after his arrest, and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Recorder Kearl told the court: “It may have been in part at least, drug-induced, but that did little to assist in the treatment that he plainly needed at that very point.
He added: “By this time, his family had done all they could to attempt to get help.”