Lifelong hospital order for Cradley Heath killer after two-hour trail of terror
A father of two killed a man and seriously injured three others, including his wife, in a two-hour trail of terror, driving from house to house in search of his victims, a court heard.
Karl Glancey, who was mentally ill, stabbed Martin Briggs in the neck with a single thrust on the doorstep of his Cradley Heath home, earlier having attacked his own wife with a scaffolding bar and knifed two of her relatives in their homes.
Glancey, 44, had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2013 following a similar assault on his wife but had since come off his medication under his doctor’s supervision, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Ms Kate Bex, QC, prosecuting, said that on the afternoon of November 12 last year, with no warning, he floored his wife with a blow to the head from the five foot bar and struck her twice more. She received 16 stitches.
Noose
From there, he drove to his father-in-law Graham Gethin’s home in Poplar Close, Tividale, pulling him out of the house and punching him to the ground before tying a rope noose around his neck and attaching the other end to his car, then driving off at speed, intending to drag him along the road.
Although Mr Gethin, 70, was able to loosen the rope, his ordeal was not over.
Glancey returned and grabbed two knives from the pensioner’s kitchen and stabbed him in the neck with one of them.
He then got back in the car and tried to run him over but Mr Gethin was able to roll out of the way. He was left paralysed down one side.
Alarmed residents alerted the emergency services and rushed to their neighbour’s aid, prompting Glancey to flee on the hunt for his next victims.
Slashed
Mr Gethin’s sister Margaret Timmins, 73, had just been warned of the attack when she heard a tap on her window and saw Glancey, who entered through the unlocked door.
She backed away but he slashed her across the cheek, inflicting a four-inch wound. She was described as ‘hysterical’ in her 999 call for help.
During the two-hour episode, Glancey had also sought out three other potential victims who fortunately had not been at home, said Ms Bex.
In his final attack, Glancey pulled up at his parents’ home in Corngreaves Walk and seeing next-door neighbour Martin Briggs at his window, repeatedly kicked his door.
Mr Briggs, aged 47, was stabbed in the neck by Glancey but not found until 10am the next day, having bled to death.
Later that night the defendant stole a van and drove to Stourbridge and Kinver and latterly to Oldbury to lie in wait for two more relatives, intending to harm them.
Glancey was arrested there having been traced via the van’s tracking device.
Greatly missed
A statement from Martin Briggs’ father read to the court said: “Sometimes I don’t actually believe Martin is not here any longer and still expect him to still walk through the door and on some occasions I’ve even gone to phone him.
“Martin had a huge presence with all his family and many friends and is greatly missed by all.”
Glancey, formerly of Dingle Avenue, Cradley Heath, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Charges of wounding and two of inflicting grievous bodily harm were left to lie on the file.
Judge Simon Drew, QC, passed a lifelong hospital order with special restrictions, the highest sentence possible under the Mental Health Act, meaning he may never be released.
Detective Inspector Harry Harrison from the West Midlands Police homicide team, said: "Sadly whatever caused Glancey’s mental health episode that day, resulted in a family losing a much-loved relative.
"Martin Briggs had spent Sunday at his uncle’s house and was due to see him again the following day, but sadly he wasn’t seen alive again.
"Glancey’s family too have been torn apart by his actions that day and our sympathies remain with all those affected by this tragic incident."
