Dad's horrific death at hands of his own son 'highly unlikely' if routine test was carried out, judge says

The killing of a father by his son would have been ‘highly unlikely’ to have happened if doctors had carried out a routine test, a judge said.

Colin Neil, 53, repeatedly hit his father over the head with a hammer in the home they shared in Timperley. Mr Neil was suffering from a psychotic episode when he killed his dad, 82-year-old John Neil, in front of his mother and John’s wife Monica.

Manchester Crown Court heard that Colin Neil had once run his own IT recruitment business and had led an independent life. But he began to suffer from mental health problems which had a ‘drastic’ effect, and he moved back in with his parents for support.

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Mr Neil suffered seizures and ‘terrifying’ night terrors, but when he sought help from health professionals his issues were misdiagnosed. It was only after he killed his father that Mr Neil was discovered to be suffering from a rare form of epilepsy which caused psychosis. He had often been told his condition was likely related to a sleep disorder.

Judge Suzanne Goddard KC, who presided over the trial at which Mr Neil was found not guilty of murder due to insanity, said that if he had been subjected to an EEG test, which monitors brain activity, then his condition may have been picked up.

She said: “The test was tragically never carried out.” The judge told Mr Neil that if it had been, ‘it would have been highly unlikely the attack on your father would have occurred’.

“This is an incredibly tragic and unusual case,” she added. She noted that Mr Neil’s mother reported how she felt ‘rebuffed’ while she and her son sought help from his GP and the hospital to secure a diagnosis.

It was eventually discovered that he had suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, a rare form of the disease. Mr Neil has been held at Ashworth high security hospital in Merseyside since the killing.

During a further hearing held on Wednesday following his acquittal last month, Judge Goddard ordered that Mr Neil remain there indefinitely until he is deemed fit to be transferred to a medium secure hospital, before he is ultimately allowed to return to the community. She said Mr Neil would be closely monitored by treating clinicians, and that any release would have to be approved by the Secretary of State within the Ministry of Justice.

The judge imposed a hospital order with restrictions. “I hope you continue to make good progress during your stay,” the judge told Mr Neil.

'You're killing him, Colin!'

His trial heard how Mr Neil had ‘lost’ his business in 2008 after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety. He continued to suffer from issues in the intervening years, and moved back to the family home on Riddings Road with his parents prior to the Covid lockdown in March 2020.

He was sectioned in 2020 and 2021, and attended accident and emergency twice last year. Around that time, Mr Neil’s mother noticed he was spending more time reading books about war, and in particular German and Russian wars.

By last summer, Mr Neil’s younger brother had conducted research on their family tree and discovered information which suggested their father had German ancestors. Prosecutors said that later events made it clear that this had ‘stuck’ in Mr Neil’s mind.

On the day of the killing, on Sunday, July 9, last year, without warning Colin Neil ran into the living room with a ‘manic grin’, looking ‘completely vacant’. He began to repeatedly hit his father over the head with a hammer without saying anything.

Mrs Neil shouted at her son to stop, telling him: “It’s your father you’re hitting. Stop it! You’re killing him, Colin!”

Mr Neil replied: “No, he’s not! He’s a f****** German. He’s killed people.” He then told his father: “That’s what you deserve.” Mr Neil hit his father at least five times.

Mrs Neil was able to push her son away, before he walked outside and dropped the hammer on the floor. He then walked into his next-door neighbour’s home and ‘confessed’.

The police arrived minutes later, and Mr Neil was arrested. His father was pronounced dead just after 5pm. Mr Neil’s behaviour at the police station concerned officers, and he was declared as being unfit to be interviewed.

About two months later, he was deemed fit to be questioned and told officers that his father was his ‘best friend’, and that he’d have ‘never intentionally hurt’ him. He said he had no memory of what happened that day.

His barrister Nina Grahame KC said: “At the time of this awful incident, because of his undiagnosed epilepsy Colin Neil didn’t know what he was doing, or if he did he didn’t know that it was wrong to do it.”