Nicola Edgington

Case record: Nicola Edgington

Background

Nicola Edgington was a British woman convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, attempted murder and murder. She was born in 1980. The case record described Edgington as suffering from schizophrenia and emotionally unstable personality traits.

Edgington had a younger brother and a younger sister. Edgington told police that she had been abused by her father when she was younger. She shoplifted during her adolescence. The record stated that she used violence against her brother and mother since childhood. It also stated she had stays in care homes at times.

Edgington worked as a hairdresser, shop assistant and saleswoman. The record also stated that she had been a prostitute, pole dancer and drug dealer.

At age 17, Edgington miscarried twins after being punched in the stomach by a violent boyfriend. At 19, she was pregnant again by a drug-dealer boyfriend and gave birth to a son three months prematurely. Marion helped Nicola care for the baby until Marion gave the boy to social services foster care.

The record stated that Edgington married a Jamaican man who was the father of her younger son. It stated that the sons were taken into care and then to Jamaica by her ex-husband.

Edgington sought help from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God prior to the attacks, as she had prior to the killing of her mother. During the later proceedings, psychiatrists described paranoid delusions and hallucinations with a religious subtext.

The offence

Killing of her mother

On 4 November 2005, Edgington stabbed her 60 year old mother, Marion, nine times in Forest Row, East Sussex. She was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Lewes Crown Court on 23 October 2006. The manslaughter conviction was based on diagnoses of schizophrenia and emotionally unstable personality traits.

The Telegraph described the stabbing as a frenzied attack at her country home, occurring during what was planned as a family weekend at the cottage of their mother in the Ashdown Forest, East Sussex a year earlier, and stated that Edgington stabbed her mother nine times. It also stated that Edgington blamed her 60-year-old mother for her child being taken into care and had recently discovered that she had been cut out of her mother’s will. The Telegraph reported that Edgington’s body was found by her other two children, Tom and Sarah, and that Edgington returned to London and was arrested three weeks later.

Killing and attempted killing of strangers

In September 2011, Edgington sent a message via Facebook to her brother. The message stated that she was not getting the help she needed, missed her mother, and had had a miscarriage. She left her phone number and asked him not to tell their father, Harry, that she had made contact. Her brother replied that she killed their mother and that he found the body. The reply stated that the miscarriage was good news and instructed her to kill herself by cutting her wrists.

On the 6th, 7th and 9th of October, Edgington contacted police several times by phone and once in person reporting that individuals were making death threats against her, naming one individual. She later reported that two cocaine users were refusing to leave her flat and may have stolen from her. Despite initially being graded as serious and requiring police attendance, the record stated that no police were dispatched to investigate.

On the morning of 10 October 2011, Edgington pleaded numerous times with police and local mental health services to physically detain her under their legal powers as she felt she was having another psychotic breakdown. She said she had killed someone before and that the more scared she became the more dangerous she could be. The record stated that although she was taken to Queen Elizabeth hospital, she was left there by police prior to being securely admitted. It stated that psychiatric staff decided they were only going to admit her on a voluntary basis despite her risk profile and secure care plan being in her psychiatric file.

Later in the morning of 10 October 2011, while waiting for staff to change shift and admit her, Edgington left the hospital through a door that should have been locked. The record stated that she took two buses and stabbed two strangers in the street in separate attacks in Bexleyheath.

The record stated that she bought a knife from Asda, with which she tried to kill 22 year old Kerry Clark. Kerry Clark survived and took the knife off her. The record then stated that Edgington stole a knife from a butcher’s shop and stabbed 58 year old Sally Hodkin, who died of her injuries within minutes.

Edgington was arrested later the same morning.

Investigation

The Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation included findings about police checks and decisions around the day of the murder in 2011. The record stated that police officers and police staff did not carry out a Police National Computer (PNC) check during their interactions with Edgington on the day of the murder which would have alerted them to her conviction for manslaughter. The record also stated that police missed an opportunity to use powers under section 136 of the Mental Health Act when Edgington tried to leave the A&E department shortly after she arrived with police.

The record stated that a second 999 call from the A&E department was downgraded because Edgington was considered to be in a place of safety and an officer was not asked to return, despite Edgington saying she could be very dangerous.

The record also stated that police in Greenwich were not notified that Edgington was living in the area following her release from hospital in 2009 after she killed her mother.

IPCC Commissioner Sarah Green made the following statements:

"While our investigation found that no police officers or staff breached the code of conduct, it is of great concern that no PNC check was carried out which would have immediately alerted them to Edgington's violent history. "Without this PNC check, both the police and staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, were without crucial information which may have influenced their future decisions, increased the urgency of the situation and could have escalated the medical attention she was given."

The record stated that Ms Green hoped both the Met and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust—which was managing Edgington’s care after she was released into the community—would "learn lessons from this tragic case to improve the handling of high-risk individuals such as Nicola Edgington in the future."

Arrest

Edgington was arrested later the same morning of 10 October 2011 after the attacks in Bexleyheath.

In the earlier killing of her mother, the Telegraph reported that Edgington returned to London and was arrested three weeks later.

Trial

Conviction for manslaughter due to diminished responsibility (mother)

The record stated that Edgington was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Lewes Crown Court on 23 October 2006 based on diagnoses of schizophrenia and emotionally unstable personality traits.

Conviction for attempted murder and murder (strangers)

At trial, Edgington faced the attempted murder of Kerry Clark and the murder of Sally Hodkin. On 7 February 2013 at the Old Bailey, the jury convicted Edgington of attempted murder of Clark and murder of Hodkin.

In the proceedings, the prosecution said Edgington had a borderline personality disorder and that her actions were deliberate. The defence argued that she was mentally ill with schizophrenia and her responsibility was diminished.

The jury had been out only five hours and 24 minutes.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph stated:

"Edgington had been misdiagnosed on the evidence available at her first trial." He said her actions had been deliberate and not those of someone who was so ill they did not know what they were doing.

Alison Saunders, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said:

"These attacks occurred on a busy street in Bexleyheath in full view of passers-by, some of whom were children on their way to school. They could only look on in horror. "In both incidents, the prosecution's case was that Edgington's clear intention was to kill. Our case was that, in doing these things, Edgington knew and understood what she was doing and knew that it was wrong. "On the morning of October 10 2011, she armed herself with large knives and set upon her victims ferociously. "Her first victim, who was waiting for her bus to work, survived only because she was able to fight off her attacker. Her second victim was not so fortunate and tragically had no chance to defend herself."

Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn said:

"On the morning of October 10 2011 Nicola Edgington identified her innocent victims from amongst the many members of the public, most of who were making their way to work. "Within a matter of minutes she violently attacked two women and sadly succeeded in murdering one of them. "For Sally Hodkin, her day had started out like any other. She too was making her way into work when she suffered a violent death at the hands of Nicola Edgington. "Sally's family has had to endure the painstaking details of the death of their loved one and they have shown great dignity during this trial, having attended court every day. "Sally's death has understandably had a huge effect on her family and I hope that today's verdict will help in some small way to alleviate some of their heartache."

Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said:

"She set upon her with the bigger knife, attacking her with such sustained force that her neck was cut completely open. "She was overwhelmed. She died almost immediately from the catastrophic injuries inflicted on her. "Miss Edgington approached and deliberately and viciously attacked each of these women without warning, without any provocation."

Edgington’s defence counsel included John Cooper, QC, mitigating. John Cooper, QC, said:

"Edgington was a woman in crisis and had not been given the help she asked for." He said: "He said she had done what she was told to do; she had called police and taken herself to hospital and had also called her mental health support workers while she was on the bus she took to the scene of the killing, which was also the bus route to Bracton Centre where she had previously been treated."

Judge Brian Barker told Edgington:

"Your actions on leaving the hospital were a consistent and calculated course of criminal conduct. "You are manipulative and extremely dangerous. "These were terrible acts and you must take responsibility for what you did. "The fact you failed to kill Kerry Clark was only due to good fortune and swift reaction. What you did could not have been more selfish."

Miss Clark gave testimony describing the struggle:

"I fell to the floor and she was on top of me. I had to fight her off. "We were grappling. I managed to grab the blade with one hand and kick her off me. It happened very quickly."

Edgington’s face was hidden by her red hair during most of the hearing.

During the trial, the jury heard 999 calls made in the hours before the attacks, during which Edgington said:

"I need for the police to come because I've had a nervous breakdown before and I killed someone."

The record stated that in the hours before the murder, Edgington called emergency services four times asking for help, saying she was hearing voices again and that she was going to kill somebody.

The HuffingtonPost entry included additional quotes from a statement read to court and from a message exchange. It stated that Mrs Hodkin’s husband Paul gave the following statement read out to court:

"there was not a day since the attack that he had not cried." It quoted Paul as saying: "my world fell apart." It also quoted him as saying: "The thought of not seeing her again has destroyed me," and "Over 40 years of marriage were brought to an end by someone who shouldn't have been on our streets."

It also quoted Edgington’s message to her brother:

"I am missing mum bad. I have just had a miscarriage and to be honest, no one is taking care of me like she did." It said it ended: "Love you xxx"

It quoted the brother’s reply:

"You stabbed her to death and left me to find her body. It's good news about your miscarriage. People like you should be sterilised. Do us all a favour and cut your wrists."

The HuffingtonPost entry also quoted Edgington in a call:

"I'm a very dangerous schizophrenic. If you don't come and help me I'm going end up hurting someone."

In the earlier mother-killing proceedings (described in the Telegraph), Philip Katz QC said:

"The defendant went into the house and, after a row, stabbed her mother to death with a large kitchen knife. She sought to blame her mother for all her woes," and that "Leading up to the death, the defendant had voiced hostility quite freely to her mother and other people. The defendant may well have found out she had been cut out of her mother's will."

Julian Goose QC, defending, said Edgington:

"was suffering a 'severe mental illness'" and had "no real memory of what happened in that house'."

Sentencing

The record stated that Judge Brian Barker jailed Edgington for life on 4 March 2013 with a minimum tariff of 37 years.

The HuffingtonPost entry stated that the judge also gave Edgington a minimum sentence of 20 years for the attempted murder of Kerry Clark, with that term running concurrently.

The record stated that Edgington may serve some of the sentence in a secure psychiatric hospital with the consent of the Justice Secretary.

Judge Barker wrote that despite Edgington’s firm long-standing diagnosis of schizophrenia and probable psychosis around the time of the attacks, he believed the overriding factor was borderline personality disorder (in the UK usually referred to in ICD terms as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, Borderline Type) with rational ability. The record also stated that Barker referred to a recent medical report indicating no need for hospital treatment for Edgington. Barker stated that the killing was premeditated in a way that showed a "consistent and calculated course of criminal conduct." It also stated that Barker treated the random and unprovoked nature of the attacks as aggravating factors and disregarded the mitigating factor of mental disability because the psychiatric authorities disagreed about it.

In the earlier case, the record stated that Judge Anthony Scott-Gall ordered that Edgington be held in a secure hospital indefinitely after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Edgington was convicted by jury at the Old Bailey on 7 February 2013 of:

• the attempted murder of Kerry Clark
• the murder of Sally Hodkin

In the earlier case, Edgington was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Lewes Crown Court on 23 October 2006 for stabbing her mother nine times.

Aftermath

The record stated that following the manslaughter conviction, Edgington was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act 1983. It stated that she was released conditionally in September 2009 and moved into a Greenwich flat.

The record stated that Edgington was being monitored by a consultant psychiatrist, a social supervisor and a community psychiatric nurse after moving into the Greenwich flat.

The record stated that Edgington killed her mother at her home in Forest Row, East Sussex, in 2005. It stated that she pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility on that occasion and that a plea was accepted by the prosecution. It stated that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia with emotionally unstable personality traits and treated as an inpatient in a medium secure psychiatric facility by the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. It stated that she was conditionally discharged in September 2009 and moved into a flat in Greenwich where she was being monitored.

The trial record included statements from family and mental health advocates. Edgington’s actions led to reactions in court. There were gasps and tears from members of Mrs Hodkin's friends and family in court. It stated that Miss Clark watched from the public gallery.

Mrs Hodkin’s husband Paul was quoted as stating: It also quoted him as saying:

His solicitor, Daniel Rubinstein, said outside court that the family would be considering further action as questions remained over the authorities' actions.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said:

"The case was a 'shocking indictment' of psychiatric services and all of the agencies involved." She said: "The most worrying aspect of this is that it could have been prevented." She said: "Edgington told people she was not taking her medication and had become a danger to herself and others, yet felt she had to prove it to be taken seriously." She also said: "If the system cannot cope with the relatively few cases of people with mental illness and a history of violence, how can we prevent the stigma which blights the lives of so many thousands who suffer from mental illness and are never violent?"

After the case, Mrs Hodkin's family issued a statement that paid tribute to her and questioned why Edgington had been released. It said:

"Sally Hodkin was a loving, caring wife, fantastic mother and grandmother and terrific friend." It added: "There is not a day that goes by when we do not think about her, she is sorely missed by all that knew her." It stated: "It has been extremely difficult as a family to sit in court for the last five weeks and hear the evidence unfold in this case." It then said: "We cannot quite understand how or why Nicola Edgington was released back into society so soon after killing her own mother." It stated: "Her release in 2009 didn't involve any independent psychiatrists or mental health tribunals; the Ministry of Justice simply followed recommendations from the Bracton Centre where she was being held." It added: "This cannot have been the right decision, otherwise we would not be here today." It stated: "The savage attack on Sally Hodkin by Nicola Edgington was not a normal stabbing." It described: "She continued to attack Sally whilst she was on the floor. She slit her throat with a meat cleaver and nearly decapitated her." It stated: "It is our opinion that this woman should never be released back into society. The public need to be protected from people like her." It stated: "Sally Hodkin was walking to work on the 10th October 2011, minding her own business. She did not know Nicola Edgington, had never met her before, yet was horrifically murdered for no apparent reason."

Timeline

• 4 November 2005 — Edgington stabbed her 60 year old mother, Marion, nine times in Forest Row, East Sussex.
• 23 October 2006 — Edgington was convicted of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at Lewes Crown Court and was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act 1983.
• September 2009 — Edgington was released conditionally and moved into a Greenwich flat.
• September 2011 — Edgington sent a Facebook message to her brother about needing help, missing her mother, and having had a miscarriage.
• 6 October 2011 — Edgington contacted police by phone reporting death threats against her.
• 7 October 2011 — Edgington contacted police by phone reporting death threats against her.
• 9 October 2011 — Edgington contacted police by phone reporting death threats against her and later concerns about two cocaine users.
• 10 October 2011 — Edgington was taken to Queen Elizabeth hospital, later left the hospital, and stabbed Kerry Clark (attempted murder) and Sally Hodkin (murder) in Bexleyheath; she was arrested later the same morning.
• 7 February 2013 — At the Old Bailey, Edgington was convicted by a jury of attempted murder of Clark and murder of Hodkin.
• 4 March 2013 — Judge Brian Barker sentenced Edgington to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 37 years.

Other details

• The record stated that Edgington was accepted to Queen Elizabeth hospital’s onsite psychiatric unit Oxleas House, but was not taken there until 6.30am, and then left soon after 7am.
• The record stated that she took two buses to Bexleyheath.
• The record stated that in one 999 call she said: "I'm a very dangerous schizophrenic. If you don't come and help me I'm going end up hurting someone."
• The record stated that on the day before the killing she signed Facebook as "Princess Nicole."
• The record stated that she tried to stab Ms Clark shortly before attacking Mrs Hodkin.
• The record stated that Sally Hodkin was a law firm accounts clerk.
• The record stated that the jury deliberated for five hours and 24 minutes.
• The record stated that there were “gasps and tears” from members of Mrs Hodkin's friends and family in court.
• The record stated that Edgington had a younger brother and younger sister, and referenced their father Harry.
• The record referred to Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn.
• The record referred to prosecutor Mark Heywood QC.
• The record referred to defence counsel John Cooper, QC.
• The record referred to prosecutor Philip Katz QC and defence counsel Julian Goose QC in the mother-killing proceedings.
• The record referred to Judge Anthony Scott-Gall in the mother-killing proceedings.
• The record referred to Judge Brian Barker in the stranger-murder proceedings.
• The record referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and to police and staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.
• The record referred to Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and the Bracton Centre.
• The record referred to cab office employees.