This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An inquiry has been commissioned after a man with paranoid schizophrenia who had lost touch with mental health services killed a stranger in a holiday town with a throwing knife.

Kevin Gale, 51, had stopped taking his medication several months before he stabbed Lee Turner outside a superstore in Barnstaple, north Devon, during an unprovoked attack.

Turner, 39, had gone to the shop to buy milk. He was stabbed four times in the back and shoulder. His dying words were: “Why me? What have I done?”

Gale has a long history of mental illness and lost touch with the crisis team in north Devon after his key worker left 18 months before the killing.

His family said they called the service repeatedly and tried to get treatment for him when his behaviour became more bizarre.

On the day of the attack – 3 August last year – Gale was dressed in an outfit that included silver boots, black shorts, a singlet and a bright blue bandana around his head.

Lee Turner: the stabbing victim’s dying words were, ‘Why me? What have I done?’ Photograph: Devon and Cornwall police

He apparently believed Turner had given him a “strange look” as they passed each other. Gale took the knife from his rucksack, followed his victim and attacked him.

Gale, who is from Barnstaple, was deemed unfit to plead over the attack but a jury at Exeter crown court found that he had committed the killing.

The judge, Peter Johnson, adjourned sentence and told the jury it was highly likely he would be making an order that Gale be detained in a secure hospital and not released until he was deemed safe.

The weapon was one of a set of three Gale had bought from a novelty shop. The other two were found hidden in speakers at his flat. He also had other weapons, including a Samurai sword.

When arrested, he stared and pointed at the police who had broken down his front door and was heard humming and making child-like shrieks.

After the verdict, a spokesman for Devon Partnership NHS trust said: “This is an extremely sad case and our thoughts are with the family of the deceased.

“We have commissioned an independent investigation into the incident and we will ensure that we embed any learning from this full and thorough review.”

Outside court, the victim’s brother, Clyne Hamilton-Daniels, said the death was avoidable and lessons should be learned.

Speaking on behalf of the family, he said: “I welcome today’s verdict of the unlawful killing of my brother, Lee, taken in such a brutal, cold and gruesome way that will never leave us as a family.

“The shock and horror of his death was all too much for our mother, Penny, who sadly passed away just weeks after Lee’s death. She couldn’t believe what had happened to her son. Lee’s last words of, ‘Why me, what have I done?’ will echo with us for ever.

“I speak for her when I say that he will be deeply missed by all who knew him and he will never be forgotten. He was one of a kind.

“More must be done to ensure that people with severe mental health issues do not fall through the cracks and aren’t allowed to walk the streets carrying deadly weapons. Devastatingly, Lee was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”