Killer is handed hospital order

A jury convicted Nicola Coleman of the manslaughter of former lover Mark Cannon following a bloody and brutal fight at her Lichfield flat in 2008.

Yesterday His Honour Judge Simon Tonking ruled that the 42-year-old woman be detained at Arbury Court psychiatric hospital in Warrington, where she has been receiving treatment for the past three years.

Coleman will only be discharged with approval from The Secretary of State for Justice.

Sentencing her at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Tonking described the full extent of the stabbing at Burwaye Close on September 29, 2008.

He said devastated 44-year-old Mr Cannon's loved ones, revealing that his father Tony Cannon had tragically died before he could see justice served.

Addressing Coleman he said: "As a result of what you did that night Mark Cannon lost his life and he is now lost to his family and friends forever.

"It caused a wave of trauma which broke across the whole family when they learned of his death and dreadful grief followed.

"That family has had to endure a court process which has lasted for years.

"The conclusion of this process tragically eluded Mark's father Tony."

In 2010 a separate jury concluded that Coleman had killed Mr Cannon but due to her mental health issues she was deemed unfit to stand trial herself and Judge Tonking, presiding in that hearing as well, issued a hospital order.

The latest trial, which started in February, opened as a murder case but this week the jury was told to rule out the charge after five psychiatrists diagnosed the defendant with schizophrenia, concluding she had diminished responsibility at the time of the attack.

On Wednesday, after four hours of deliberation, the jury convicted her of manslaughter.

In summing up, Judge Tonking stated he did not believe Coleman planned the attack.

He said: "You had the knife and you used it and you did not use it in lawful self defence.

"From the injuries Mark Cannon received it is clear you subjected him to a violent a vicious attack.

"You stabbed him three times, one of those being the fatal stab."

Judge Tonking added: "It is clear from the evidence that he left the flat to escape from you."

Dr Carl Wilson, who has been overseeing Coleman's treatment for schizophrenia since 2012, said she had made a lot of progress and not acted violently or aggressively for 'some years'.

He added she would no longer 'slip under the radar' of mental health services and it was unlikely her condition would re-lapse.