Marjorie and Michael Cawdery killings: MP calls for PSNI, Health trusts and agencies to cooperate after coroner rules on Portadown killings by paranoid schizophrenic Thomas Scott McEntee

Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart was speaking after the PSNI offered an unreserved apology for failings in the killings of Marjorie and Michael Cawdery, both 83, who were stabbed to death at their home in Portadown in 2017.

Paranoid schizophrenic Thomas Scott McEntee, who is now aged in his mid-40s, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was given a life sentence in June the following year.

Just before Christmas a coroner found that the couple's deaths were “entirely preventable”. The Belfast and Southern Health Trusts then issued apologies to the family.

On Wednesday evening the PSNI issued an unreserved apology for failings in its handling of incidents preceding the killings.

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart said all agencies must now work together to improve outcomes.

“This was an absolutely tragic incident, and sadly the Cawdery family must live day by day with the tremendous sense of loss as a result of the murder of Michael and Marjorie," she said.

"It is right that the PSNI has apologised unreservedly for their failings. No apology will ever make up for the failure to protect the public in this instance, but this is welcome. However, what is clear is that the Chief Constable recognises the need for contrition but also the need to learn lessons from a policing and community safety perspective from this horrific incident.

"Police, Health trusts and all statutory agencies must improve how they deal with mental health challenges, especially given that mental illness is so prevalent in our society. I support the family in their appeal for such improvement.”

She was speaking as the son-in-law of the couple, Charles Little, said the family was happy with the apology from Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.

“He’s new in post, he’s determined to go forward and improve the situation and get work done to try and prevent these things happening again,” he said.

In December, coroner Maria Dougan said that the deaths could have been avoided if police and health care workers had dealt differently with McEntee.

She also said she was not satisfied that the PSNI and NHS had learned all the lessons from the incident.

Mr Little added that it is “not purely the domain of one or the other, both deal with mental health patients on a daily basis”.

He said it was "quite clear" from the inquest that police have no idea what happens to a mental health patient when they take him to hospital and that the NHS had also no idea how the police operate on this issue either.

NI has on average 300 avoidable mental health related deaths every year, he said.

“The lack of an executive kills people. It’s as simple as that. Politicians really need to get their minds round that."

He added: “They need to get together, we need to have an executive, we need to have a real government-wide mental health policy, we need to implement it and number one, we need to address the avoidable deaths.”