By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:23 PM on 01st February 2010

Mental health worker Ashleigh Ewing

Mental health worker Ashleigh Ewing was stabbed to death by paranoid schizophrenic Ronald Dixon nearly four years ago

A mental health charity was ordered to pay 50,000 today after it admitted failing to protect a university graduate who was stabbed to death at work.

Ashleigh Ewing was killed by paranoid schizophrenic Ronald Dixon during a visit to his home nearly four years ago.

Today at Newcastle Crown Court, the charity Mental Health Matters pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations and was fined 30,000 and ordered to pay an additional 20,000 in costs.

The judge Mr Justice Keith said: 'The fact that a life has tragically been lost is a fact which must be reflected in the level of the fine.

'But it goes without saying that nothing can compensate for the loss of Ashleigh's life, which is of course precious.'

Northumbria University psychology graduate Miss Ewing, 22, from Hebburn, South Tyneside, was visiting Dixon's home in Eighth Avenue, Heaton, as part of her work with the Sunderland-based charity.

The former Hebburn Comprehensive pupil was alone on the last day of her six-month probation period when she was attacked.

Dixon, who later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, stabbed her 39 times using four different kitchen knives.

Earlier in court today James Maxwell-Scott, defending, said: 'I am entering a guilty plea on behalf of my client Mental Health Matters.'

The charity was charged with failing to ensure the safety of an employee under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Mr Maxwell-Scott said: 'Mental Health Matters wishes to apologise unreservedly to her family and the court for the failing which it admits.

'Mental Health Matters is deeply sorry that this tragedy occurred and its thoughts and sympathies are first and foremost with the family.'

Ronald Dixon stabbed Ashleigh 39 times and later admitted manslaughter

Ronald Dixon stabbed Ashleigh 39 times and later admitted manslaughter

Kevin Donnelly, prosecuting, said Miss Ewing's death was not caused by Mental Health Matters but that further risk assessments and training should have been carried out by the charity in order to protect her.

He said: 'The prosecution does not suggest that Ashleigh Ewing's death at the hands of Ronald Dixon was an event that could or should have been foreseen.

'Mental Health Matters failed to identify and respond to the increasing risks to which Ashleigh Ewing was exposed in the course of her employment.'

But he added: 'It cannot be said that the failings of Mental Health Matters caused Ashleigh Ewing's death.'

In a statement, Miss Ewing's family said: 'On behalf of Jeff, Aileen, Laura and the extended family of Ashleigh Ewing, I would like to thank the Health and Safety Executive team for all of their hard work, time and effort generated to bring justice for their beloved Ashleigh.

'In the family's opinion, Ashleigh's untimely, unnecessary and horrific death was due to the systematic failures by various agencies, including Mental Health Matters.

'The family still firmly believes that the extent of Dixon's health issues and past convictions were not fully known to Ashleigh.

'Since Ashleigh's death it has been clear to us that the warning signs were clearly visible, yet no action was taken which would have prevented her death.

'Although we are satisfied that Mental Health Matters have admitted their guilt, it will never take away our sense of loss and despair.

'People say time is a great healer but we, as a family, feel that it gives us more time to miss and yearn for Ashleigh each and every day.

'Ashleigh wanted to make a difference to people's lives but it is heartbreaking that in order to make this difference she paid with her own life.'

The family said it hoped that today's hearing would bring about 'major changes' in the quality of care given to both employees and service users within the mental health sector.

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This is an awful thing to have happened, but unfortunately this type of tragedy will become more common as ' keeping people in the community' only works when the person who is being re-intergrated in to the community takes their medication as prescribed ,and if not to be put back into controlled medical care; has regular visits from people who are monitoring their progress and should not to be visited alone, and that the person does not slip from the 'radar' which is happening more and more. I feel for this young woman's family..

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The problem with some charities of this type is that they are staffed by liberal do-gooders who have no real understanding of the issues the service users might have. I do voluntary work in an organisation dealing with homeless issues where many of the clients have drug and alcohol problems. Some of the management never come out to see what goes on in reception, preferring to play it safe in their offices. If you said boo to them they would probably run. The social workers we deal with are airy fairy types as well, but it's all about letting clients do as they please and not judging them. This is why we have so many problems in society, we no longer take a tough stance on serious issues.

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Sadly some of the people who become involved in running charities have unrealistic amateurish views on mental illness - it is not many years ago that a major charity was denigrating proper psychiatric diagnosis and assessment and even denying that the existense of mental illness - attributing such states to social circumstances and peddling the nonsense that cure could be achieved by psychotherapy alone.

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Really sad, this young woman was working for a charity to care about somebody totally left out of the system, who can't afford fifty pounds a shot for some Jungian analyst.

Maybe poverty came into this? Wealthy clients of Jungian analysts don't seem to do this kind of thing. It is about money.

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The blame lies not with the staff of the charity but the common purpose statement of the `recovery` project ie tell patients they are sooo much better they no longer need professional help and this is achieved by "creative risk taking "by community psychiatrists who have been forced to replace "risk assessment" with the former.

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I shouldn't have to even point this out but it's one in four people have a mental illness in the UK and we certainly don't have them all on the knife-wielding rampage.

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