Mother gets 352,777 pounds after attack by her son

A MOTHER who was left severely brain damaged during a frenzied attack by her schizophrenic son was yesterday awarded pounds 352,777 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Pam Morrell, 60, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire will need constant care for the rest of her life after the savage assault by her son, Jonathan, in what his family called a 'fit of madness', in April 1988.

In July 1989 Jonathan Morrell, now 35, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and ordered to be detained under the Mental Health Act. He is being treated for schizophrenia in Rampton high security Hospital, Nottinghamshire.

Morrell battered his mother with a heavy metal motorcycle chain around the head and face causing multiple skull fractures which almost killed her.

Mother and son were alone in the house and the reason for the attack remains a mystery. It was the culmination of years of violence against members of his family by Morrell who for 10 years suffered from a mental illness which gave him terrifying delusions and hallucinations. He had nightmares and heard voices in his head and felt threatened by imaginary evil forces. He attempted suicide on at least four occasions.

Despite medication which kept his paranoia under control - when he took it - Morrell came to fear his doctor and his family and eventually to hate his mother.

The family complain that despite appeals for help to doctors, to the North Yorkshire social services department, and to Yorkshire regional health authority and a warning to his psychiatrist that Morrell was so dangerous that he could kill his mother, the authorities failed to protect Morrell from himself and to protect others from him.

After a four-hour hearing in Leeds yesterday the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board made an award covering payments for pain and suffering, loss of earnings, care by the family and future care.

Afterward the hearing Mrs Morrell's daughter Sarah Morrell, 37, said: 'It seems a lot of money, but I feel hollow. My mum is still brain damaged.

'I feel empty because it shouldn't have happened in the first place. And what does my brother get. He doesn't get anything does he? Because of his illness he is psychologically mashed up.

'There should be a proper set up for schizophrenics and their families so this just cannot happen, so there is a safety net.'

In a letter to the family, North Yorkshire County Council has denied failing to help the Morrell family saying Morrell could not be made subject of a compulsory hospital order because 'medical opinion indicated that Jonathan was simply not ill enough to warrant hospital admission'.