A YOUNG, mentally ill Camborne woman, who was sentenced to an indefinite sentence in hospital after killing a man, was a victim whose vulnerability was not sufficiently recognised.

That is the conclusion of an official report just discovered by the West Briton.

In January 2006, Alice Reseigh stabbed unemployed Stuart Rutter 36 times as he lay on a bed in a flat in the town. She was just 16.

She also used the same knife, from a block in the kitchen, to stab her father Terance Reseigh.

He survived, but spent 20 days in intensive care with a punctured lung.

In March 2007 a jury at Exeter Crown Court found her guilty of killing a man and attempting to kill another and she was sentenced to remain in hospital indefinitely.

Special needs

A serious case review carried out by Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Safeguarding Children Board shows that Miss Reseigh had been put on the Child Protection Register twice between 1992 and 1993 and had been assessed as having special educational needs.

From 2004 until the time of her arrest in 2006 she had had regular contact with a number of agencies "due to concerns about her welfare and behaviour, which indicated a high level of vulnerability".

The police had also been involved with Miss Reseigh on a number of occasions.

The review panel recognised that she had been exposed to "unacceptable risks" as she grew up.

It suggested the police needed to review how it investigated allegations made by young people.

Miss Reseigh would have been better served if other agencies had shared information about her vulnerability.

The panel concluded: "There was no doubt… from the evidence before the panel that the young person was a victim and her vulnerability was not sufficiently recognised."

Causes

The police, it said, should ensure that underlying causes of offending behaviour were considered in cases where a young person was suspected of a serious offence.

Services provided by Cornwall Partnership Trust should be based upon need, not IQ level, and the trust should undertake a review of referral acceptance criteria.

The National Probation Service should consider its policy on data retention "in the light of the need to provide information to partner agencies to more safely discharge their combined duty to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from harm."

Ian Clewlow, director of quality and service improvement, said that Devon and Cornwall probation area would "of course" act on this recommendation.

He added: "We are however compliant with the NOMS position on data retention (ie case file info) and we need to follow this.

"Judgements are made about the risk of harm presented by any offender and we would keep information when a case is assessed as a very high risk of serious harm."

● The Police and Cornwall Partnership Trust were unable to provide a comment before we went to press.