Psychiatrist had ‘limited’ medical records to determine whether Felixstowe murder accused should be detained - court
The scene in Gosford Way in Felixstowe after Jean Ryan was found dead in her home. Picture: SU ANDERSON - Credit: Su Anderson
A psychiatrist who was asked to assess the mental health of a Felixstowe man after he was arrested on suspicion of killing his wife didn’t see his full medical notes, a court has heard.
Doctor John Bellhouse told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court that when he accessed Shaun Ryan’s past medical records on a computer at Ipswich Hospital the information he obtained was “pretty limited” and only related to a violent incident at Sainsbury’s in 2014.
Cross-examined by Steven Dyble, representing Ryan, Dr Bellhouse, who saw Ryan two days after his wife Jean’s body was found at their home with a knife sticking out of her back, accepted he may have been helped in assessing whether Ryan needed to be detained under the Mental Health Act if he had seen more detailed records.
These included references to a depressed skull fracture suffered by Ryan in 1973 after he fell down some stairs and another head injury caused by him being hit with a rock while he was serving in the army in Northern Ireland, which resulted in epilepsy.
He said it may also have been helpful for him to have known about an incident when Ryan had been aggressive towards his wife and had barricaded himself in a room and armed himself with a golf club and another incident when Ryan went “berserk” following a seizure and attacked a doctor.
Ryan has denied murder.
The court has heard that police went to a bungalow in Gosford Way, Felixstowe, on April 13 last year after Mrs Ryan made a 999 call during which she could be heard shouting and screaming.
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Her lifeless body was found on the bedroom floor with a knife sticking out of her back.
The court heard that in addition to the fatal stab wound to her back, Mrs Ryan suffered multiple stab wounds to her head, chest, abdomen, arms and legs and other injuries that were probably caused by punching or kicking.
The court has heard that the defence doesn’t dispute that Ryan caused his wife’s death and the issue for the jury would be his mental state at the time.
The trial continues.
