The murder of a 'Good Samaritan' could have been avoided if his killer had been offered accommodation on leaving hospital, a report has found. Alan Geddes, 56, was killed in December 2019 after he offered a stranger a place to stay for the night in Aberdeen.
Stuart Quinn pleaded guilty to murdering Geddes, on the evening he was released from a psychiatric hospital. He was jailed for a minimum of 18 years in February 2021. The lead-up to the murder was investigated by an anonymised report by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
It revealed that Quinn, referred to in the report as Mr TU, had four relatively brief admissions to a psychiatric hospital when he was 32. The admissions were between March and June 2018, and he was diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis.
On each admission, he presented paranoid delusional beliefs and was detained under the Mental Health Act. He spent most of 2019 in prison, and in December, having been on remand was released with no support package in place and no accommodation.
The report revealed that if he would have been offered accommodation, there would have been a lower risk to the victim. It said: "The investigation concluded that following Mr TU's unexpected release from prison in December 2019, although a support package and accommodation may have reduced the likelihood of further offending, evidence from a planned liberation in September 2019 indicated that even with a comprehensive support package in place and with accommodation provided, Mr TU rapidly re-offended, was rearrested and returned to prison.
"However, if Mr TU had been offered accommodation in December 2019 this is likely to have reduced the risk to the specific victim who invited him to his home because of his lack of accommodation."
The report said the quality of the care Mr TU received in 2019 from the health board involved was of "high quality". However, there were also aspects of that care, including how risks were assessed and managed and the involvement of Mr TU's nearest relative, which if would have been acted on "might have mitigated the risk of violence when he was discharged from inpatient care in June 2018".
There were six recommendations made in the report for change for the involved health board and health and social care partnership, including issues such as risk management, hospital discharge planning and consent to share information.
There are a further six recommendations for the Scottish Government, including support for those released from prison, the national mental health workforce strategy and hospital discharge standards.
Alison Thomson, of the Mental Welfare Commission, said: "The range of our recommendations reflects the complexity of the case. We recognise the challenges involved for all of those who provided care and treatment for Mr TU. Nevertheless, the investigation found there was learning for clinical services that could improve the care and treatment of those with substance-induced psychosis and mitigate the risk of future violence."
A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: "Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we endeavour to ensure that individuals liberated from custody have appropriate support networks in place to aid their transition back into the community.
"We work with a range of agencies to enable the continuity of service provision for those leaving our care. We will continue to work with the Scottish Government and community partners to ensure individuals have the best possible chance for successful reintegration."
Scottish Conservative north-east MSP Douglas Lumsden, who has supported the Geddes family throughout the case, said: "This damning report highlights the cataclysmic failings of Scotland's justice system and how easy it was for a violent, high-risk offender to be released early with no consideration of the dangers he posed to the public.
"The lack of rigorous assessments in this case has exposed significant gaps in mental health, prison aftercare and supervision. Alan was a Good Samaritan who died merely because he stepped in when others had failed."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We will carefully consider this report before responding formally. Our thoughts continue to be with the family of the victim of this tragic event."
A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: "We note the findings of the report and will action the recommendations within the timeframe set out."
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