Neighbour who knifed mother and daughter to death given manslaughter on diminished responsibility

Jack Ralph, pictured, 28, has been convicted of manslaughter today for killing mother and daughter Margaret, 78, and Sharron Harris, 55, after stabbing them at their home in Kent last year

A former chef who searched ‘How long for murder?’ online just hours before fatally stabbing his next-door neighbours with a carving knife has been convicted today of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Jack Ralph launched his frenzied attack on pensioner Margaret Harris, 78, and her daughter Sharon, 55, just minutes after Mrs Harris’s husband David had opened their back door to him at 7.30am on Saturday, September 29 last year.

The 28-year-old had been living with his mother Julie next door to the Harris family for 18 years when he knocked at their semi-detached property in Hadlow, Kent, and, without warning, struck out with the 8in blade.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of Mr Harris, 76, who was knifed four times as he tried to desperately fight off Ralph with a rolling pin.

Nine months earlier around Christmas 2017, Ralph had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was under ‘non-statutory’ care of his local community health team.

He had also been prescribed antipsychotic medication, and had taken his last dosage just half an hour before the fatal and near-fatal stabbings.

But he later told psychiatrists he had been hearing voices ‘commanding’ him to kill his neighbours who were in ‘God’s bad books’.

Pictured are police at the scene of the attack in 2018. Ralph, diagnosed with schizophrenia, admits responsibility for the killings but denies murder on grounds of insanity

Pictured are police at the scene of the attack in 2018. Ralph, diagnosed with schizophrenia, admits responsibility for the killings but denies murder on grounds of insanity

He also claimed that he believed seeing one of the Harris women wearing a red coat in the days leading up to the stabbings meant his mum was in danger of being attacked by them.

Ralph, currently in high security Broadmoor Hospital, denied two charges of murder and one of attempted murder on the grounds of insanity.

Due to the unusual nature of the case, trial judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb herself asked the jury of seven women and five men for their verdicts.

On the counts of murder, they were asked whether they found him not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

On the count of attempted murder, the jury was asked whether they found him not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty.

All the verdicts were unanimous and returned within two hours of the jury retiring.

Sentencing will take place later this afternoon. Ralph is expected to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

Mrs Harris was still wearing her nightdress when she was fatally knifed three times to her neck, while Sharon suffered a fatal chest wound. They were found in the hallway of their home in Carpenters Lane, Hadlow, Kent.

Mr Harris, 76, who had opened his door to Ralph that morning, suffered four stab injuries to his neck, ear, back and forearm.

Maidstone Crown Court in Kent heard that had the 3cm neck wound penetrated just 1mm deeper it would ‘in all likelihood’ have proved fatal.

But despite his life-threatening injuries Mr Harris was able to dial 999 before collapsing next to the phone in his living room. He also suffered a heart attack and underwent surgery to repair a major neck artery.

The court heard Ralph was found by police sitting on a sofa in his living room in Carpenters Lane with his arms above his head.

He later told officers he was ‘in full regret’, but added he was ‘in a blind rage’, when he attacked his neighbours.

Describing himself as ‘a strong guy’ and fully trained in Brazilian Jujitsu, he said he could not remember much of what happened, adding: ‘I blacked out…I don’t know what came over me.’

The court heard Ralph had lived next door to the couple in Hadlow, Kent, pictured, for 18 years and that Mr Harris had no explanation for the attack

The court heard Ralph had lived next door to the couple in Hadlow, Kent, pictured, for 18 years and that Mr Harris had no explanation for the attack

His mobile revealed an internet search of ‘How long for murder?’ at approximately 10.30pm the previous evening.

At the start of his trial last Tuesday, the jury was told he did not deny killing the Harris women or stabbing Mr Harris.

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC said four psychiatrists all agreed Ralph was suffering from schizophrenia at the time and his responsibility was diminished.

However, defence experts argued that he was so affected by his mental health condition he did not know what he was doing was wrong.

Opening the prosecution case, Mr Bennetts said: ‘There is no issue that Jack Ralph killed Margaret and Sharon Harris. There is no issue that he stabbed David Harris.

‘The defence has raised the issue of insanity….It is the prosecution case that at the material time he did know what he was doing was wrong.’

The court heard that no one from the Harris family, which includes two sons, were able to attend or even provide police with victim personal statements due to the nature of what occurred that day.

‘The impact has been such that they were unable to make statements. It is the effect of what has occurred that means they just couldn’t be here,’ said the prosecutor.

Jonathan Higgs QC, defending, said the court’s ‘paramount’ concern was ensuring public safety.

‘That is best achieved by Mr Ralph remaining under medical supervision at Broadmoor, no doubt for a considerable time and until that time those caring for him take the view, if at all, that public safety can be achieved in some different format.’

Mr Harris told police there had been no difficulties between his family and Ralph, and that everything leading up to the attack had been ‘completely normal’.

‘We’ve always got on well together…We had a perfect relationship, no problems at all,’ said Mr Harris.

In a video recorded interview played in court, the pensioner broke down in tears as he recalled the moment his neighbour ‘went mad’ that fateful morning

He was downstairs with his daughter when Ralph knocked at their back door. Mrs Harris was upstairs in bed but came down on hearing the unexpected commotion.

Mr Harris told police he and Sharon had tried to ‘hold off’ Ralph as he pushed his way in, lashing out with the 8in long blade.

‘No words were spoken. He just kept pushing at the door to get at us. I had no idea what his intention was apart from he was coming at us with a knife,’ said Mr Harris.

He said he was surprised to see Ralph at his door that morning and they chatted for about five minutes on the doorstep.

But the pensioner described Ralph, who also worked as a labourer, staring at him throughout, with no change in his demeanour.

It was when Mr Harris said he ‘had to go’ that Ralph pulled the blade from behind his back and ‘came at him’, striking him in the neck.

Mr Harris told police: ‘I have tried to slam the door but didn’t have any strength left. I managed to get back inside the inner door with my daughter. Then my wife came down the stairs wondering what the commotion was. He just went mad by the sounds of it.’

Ralph said nothing as he carried out his knife attack the court heard.

‘Not a word was said at all. He just kept completely quiet. No words were spoken. He just kept pushing at the door to get at us,’ explained Mr Harris.

‘I had no idea what his intention was apart from he was coming at us with a knife. I didn’t know what he was going to do or anything,’ he said.

‘Margaret was upstairs in bed but heard the commotion and so came downstairs. I don’t know if she spoke to him. I can’t recall anything like that.

‘With the amount of blood I was losing, it was literally gushing out of my neck. I made a dash to the phone and called emergency services before I passed out. What happened then I don’t know.’

Asked to describe the knife, Mr Harris said: ‘It looked like a carving knife. It wasn’t just a normal knife. It wasn’t a bread knife. It was bigger than that.

‘It was more like a butcher’s-type knife. As soon as he brought it from behind his back I thought ‘Got to get out of the way’. I didn’t see it until his arm came round with it. He just slashed out with it.

‘When I saw the knife coming I yelled ‘He’s got a knife’ and couldn’t shut the door. Because he caught me in the shoulder he put me one-sided. I couldn’t shut the door because it wouldn’t go. He had jammed it somehow.

‘He managed to get inside and we were trying to hold him off.’

Mr Harris ran to fetch a rolling pin to fight Ralph off but he continued to lash out with the knife as the pensioner retreated into his living room.

He could not say how his wife and daughter suffered their injuries. He began to cry as he explained: ‘I was collapsed at the phone. I don’t know what happened to them. I never saw what happened to them unfortunately.’

He added that Ralph would have ‘a laugh and a joke’ with Sharon and the couple’s sons, while his wife talked to him ‘a hell of a lot about all sorts of things.’

Asked why Ralph would do this to them, Mr Harris, who did not attend the trial, replied: ‘I don’t know.’

In his 999 call, Mr Harris was able to name their attacker and Ralph was arrested within minutes. He had removed his bloodstained hoody.

He told officers he suffered from schizophrenia but said he was ‘feeling fine’. They described him as calm and compliant, and said he made ‘small talk’ once in custody.

Ralph also requested and was permitted two calls – to his car insurance and mobile phone companies to cancel his policy and contract.

When interviewed, he said he did not recall much of what happened but remembered blood on his hands and agreed he lost control.

He repeatedly told police he was in a blind rage and also referred to having ‘blacked out’ at one stage.

But he refused to comment on the force he used. He said the blade, which police found still bloodstained on his kitchen worktop, had been chipped on a marrow bone some three to four years previously.

He also described himself as being upset ‘dearly’ by the event, but when asked if he was sad for himself or his victims, Ralph said he was not sure and always tried to look ‘onwards and upwards’.

Ralph also claimed there had been a ‘slight altercation’ between himself and Mr and Mrs Harris the evening before he stabbed them but would not elaborate.

He said Mrs Harris did not like him smoking cannabis and he wrote her a letter to apologise for ‘snapping’ at her seven months earlier.

This was found by police on his toaster and it read: ‘I’m sorry I said nasty things to your mum. I was tired and confused. I was really out of order.

‘I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me. You are amazing neighbours. You deserve better than I have been to you.’

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