A teenager stabbed their mother more than 100 times before calling 999 and quietly asking the police to “bring a body bag”, and an investigation was heard.
Rowan Thompson, 17, was just back from jogging with Joanna Thompson when they attacked her at her home in the village of Hampshire in Humbeldon.
Teenage Mrs. Thompson, a 50-year-old speech therapist, suffocated in her living room until she passed out before stabbing her in the neck, forehead and arm.
At 12.45 pm on July 1 last year, Rowan called the police and announced: “I just killed my mom … I strangled her, stabbed her with different knives and more.”
Rowan was due to appear in the Crown Court in Winchester in October, but was found dead in a safe hospital in Greater Manchester a few days earlier. Police said the death was not suspicious.
Speaking outside of court, Rowan’s father, Mark, claimed that more could have been done for the teen while staying in two mental health units prior to the attack. He said Rowan was identified as not being bisexual but rather placed in a unit that separated boys and girls.
Mr. Thompson said Rowan was “troubled” and the system failed. He said that Rowan loved Mrs. Thompson “to bits and pieces” and knew the attack was wrong.
Mr. Thompson added that before the attack, Rowan was never aggressive, he loved fencing, climbing, and Rubik’s Cube and wanted to become an architect.
An investigation was told that Rowan was visiting her mother at the weekend, after she moved in with their father, the witch, in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Rowan and their mother had “grueling” conversations about living arrangements the night before her death, was told to investigate Winchester.
In a clip from the 999 call that was triggered in court, the teen could be heard saying, “I just killed my mom. I need someone to arrest me because that’s what she’s doing and it would be nice to use an ambulance. I strangled her, stabbed her with different knives, etc. Breathe … bring a body bag or whatever you do. I’m 99.9% sure it’s not breathing. “
The teenager told the police that they felt “weird” and were on a “autopilot” at the time of the attack.
Basil Bordeaux, pathologist, concluded that although Thompson was unconscious, her heart was still beating when Rowan stabbed her 118 times.
Dr. John Sandford, a psychiatrist, said Rowan had mild autism, but added that there was no indication that the teen had “abnormal mental functions”.
But Mr. Thompson claimed that two other psychiatrists had “opposing views” and believed that the teen was “mentally disabled”.
The coroner, Jason Page, recorded a wrongful death sentence. Rowan’s investigation is due to take place in Manchester next year.
