Pensioner killed by woman who left unit was failed on every level, says family

Angela Hector, the niece of Roger Leadbeater, speaks to the media outside Sheffield coroner’s court (Dave Higgens/PA) - (PA Wire)

The family of a pensioner who was killed in a “ritual sacrifice” 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”, after a coroner concluded the patient’s leave request would probably have been rejected if procedures had been followed.

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.