Dog walker stabbed 76 times in ‘ritual sacrifice’ after woman escapes mental unit

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The family of a pensioner who was killed in a “ritual sacrifice” after being stabbed 76 times by a woman who went missing from an acute mental health unit has said two police forces and a NHS trust “failed on every level”.

Special needs bus driver Roger Leadbeater, 74, was stabbed multiple times by Emma Borowy, 32, as he walked his dog Max in a Sheffield park in August 2023 after Ms Borowy absconded from leave from a unit in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

During an inquest today (January 22), the coroner concluded the patient’s leave request would probably have been rejected if procedures had been followed.

Sheffield coroner Tanyka Rawden concluded an inquest which heard how Ms Borowy, who died in prison four months after the attack, had absconded from her ward nine times, attempted to abscond 15 times and failed to return from leave three times.

Ms Rawden outlined how permission was still given for escorted leave two days before Mr Leadbeater was attacked, when staff at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust failed to follow their own policies and did not have an accurate risk assessment.

The coroner concluded “it is likely the risk factors would have been too high and leave would not have been granted” if the procedures had been properly followed.

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