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Family of carer killed by resident call for female “Carstairs” in Scotland

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Family of carer killed by resident call for female “Carstairs” in Scotland

The family of a carer stabbed to death by a disturbed resident have called for a female state hospital in Scotland.

Care worker Michele Rutherford, 54, was stabbed to death at the Craighall Court care facility, in Stirling, on March 7 by resident Kellyanne McNaughton. The knife attack followed failed attempts to get the 33-year-old psychiatric help.




Her grieving daughter Amy and husband William say they feel “angry and let down” that there is no equivalent to the State Hospital at Carstairs for women, leading to lengthy delays throughout court proceedings.

(Image: STV News)

Amy said the family had raised the issue with MSPs and ministers but say the response they received was “entirely unsatisfactory”.

She told STV News: “We can’t be the first family this has happened to and she (McNaughton) can’t be the first woman in Scotland with mental health issues to commit such a crime.

“The rest of our lives are going to be altered by this. If we can take away the risk for other people – and there is a correct facility – that will give us peace.”

The State Hospital at Carstairs, in South Lanarkshire, is the only “high risk” facility in the country and is only for men. It emerged in court there had been failed discussions about transferring McNaughton to two clinics, and a secure hospital in England, delaying her sentencing by six months.

Earlier this month it was decided McNaughton will be treated at the “medium risk” Priory Hospital Llanarth Court in Monmouthshire, Wales.

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