Mental health professionals missed "warning signs" before a mentally ill woman bludgeoned a pensioner to death in a Co-op, a review has found. In the unprovoked attack on May 5, 2020, Zara Radcliffe, 30, hit church bell ringer John Rees, 88, with wine bottles and and a fire extinguisher as he lay prone on the floor of the supermarket.
She had walked from her home in Wyndham Street, Tonypandy, to the convenience store in Tylacelyn Road in Penygraig, Rhondda, in the afternoon carrying a kitchen knife. Once there she launched a frenzied attack on multiple people, stabbing them to the head and neck. Mr Rees tried to stop the attack but died as a result of severe blunt force trauma to the face and multiple face fractures.
In March this year, Mr Rees and two other women who courageously tried to stop the attack were awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal for their bravery. At her trial in October 2020, Radcliffe pleaded guilty to manslaughter of the pensioner by reason of diminished responsibility, and admitted to the attempted murders of three others.
