ARCHITECT WITH PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA KILLS GRANDFATHER IN ABERDEEN
An architect, who was convinced there was a Moonie conspiracy to kill him, stabbed his grandfather to death with nail clippers.Nigel Gatt, 38, believed James Gatt, 92, and several friends were plotting to murder him, the High Court in Forfar heard yesterday.
Gatt, who was suffering from religious and persecutory delusions, has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.
He was ordered to be detained at the State Hospital at Carstairs.
At least twice between 1987 and 1994 he was admitted as a patient to Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen, and was pulled from Loch Ness last year.
He was on medication at the time of the attack.
Last night, there were calls for an inquiry into the case.
Mr John McAllion, Labour's Scottish health spokesman, called for an investigation into why Gatt had been discharged from hospital.
``The circumstances of the case are tragic and it is obvious someone has made a mistake, probably Cornhill,'' he said.
Mr McAllion said: ``Any lessons that can be learned from this case must be learned.
It underlines the need to maintain beds in hospitals, rather than closing them down.'' Gatt's aunt, Gilbertha Gatt, said: ``I feel anger at the hospital and the system that this could ever have been allowed to happen.'' She added: ``Nigel is a schizophrenic - he's not a violent murderer, he's just ill.
He needed help and we feel he was let down by the whole system.'' Dr Richard Scorgie, Grampian Healthcare medical director, said: ``I am satisfied he received the best possible treatment.
I fully support the judgment of the clinicians in this case based on the facts available.'' Mr Scorgie added that an internal review into Gatt's case had been carried out and a report submitted to the Mental Welfare Commission.
Detective Inspector Alan Smith, who led the inquiry, said after the case that Gatt had told police officers that he believed it was a case of kill or be killed.
``The battle is over.
He has died.
He fought bravely,'' said Gatt who, at 6ft and weighing 15 stone, physically dominated his relative.
Gatt has been held at the State Mental Hospital at Carstairs since the murder in the early hours of Monday, August 14.
Gatt's marriage of nine years broke up in the late 80s because of his ``mood swings'' and he returned to Aberdeen to live with his grandparents, James and Elizabeth.
Gatt was raised in the family home at Hollybank Place, Aberdeen, where the killing took place.
His mother now lives in London but has been told of what happened by her family.
Police had had a number of dealings with Gatt in the hours leading up to the death but nothing alerted them to what was to follow.
Gatt phoned them at 5.38am to say his grandfather was dead.
Officers found Gatt naked, shouting and screaming, with his victim lying in the bathroom.
In court yesterday, Gatt denied murdering his grandfather, claiming he was insane at the time and not responsible for his actions.
The Crown and Gatt's legal team agreed that he assaulted his grandfather by repeatedly punching him on the head and body, forcing paper into his mouth, and repeatedly stabbing him.
They also agreed that Mr Gatt Sr died as a result of the attack and that his grandson was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
A psychiatrist's report, which was read to the court, said: ``He believed that his life was in danger from the Moonies.
``Gatt did not appreciate the wrongfulness of what he was doing,'' added Mr Thomas White, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Carstairs.
Another psychiatrist from Carstairs, Ms Janice Duncan, said that Gatt had ``dangerous and violent propensities'' and both specialists recommended he be cared for at the state hospital.
Lord Gill instructed the jury to acquit Gatt on the grounds of his insanity at the time and ordered that he be detained at Carstairs.
