The trust responsible for the treatment of a man who slaughtered his carer and cousin did not appreciate the risk posed by the paranoid schizophrenic.

Ashley Rowen chased Ryan Lowry into the street and struck him more than a dozen times with an axe at the time of the incident in Partington in 2020.

Rowen was convicted of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility and was sentenced to a hospital order to be served at Ashworth Hospital two and a half years ago. The hospital order is indefinite.

The incident led to an independent investigation into the trust responsible for his care and treatment, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (GMMH), with a report published by Sancus Solutions this month.

The report suggests GMMH did not appreciate the risk posed by the paranoid schizophrenic both in the build-up to the attack and on the day of the attack, although it stops short of any suggestion the outcome was avoidable if GMMH did appreciate this risk.

It reads: "Although the investigation team are not suggesting any one practitioner was responsible for this tragic event there were, however, some deficits in the assessments of and responses to [Rowen's] risk factors and also in the responses to [Mr Lowry's] concerns."

Messenger Newspapers: Ryan LowryRyan Lowry (Image: PA)

Rowen's 'risk factors' included his history, which included assaults on relatives and assaults on A&E staff, as well as his possession of at least one restraining order and his presence on the sex offenders register.

Mr Lowry's concerns included calls to the Community Mental Health Team about his cousin's behaviour and his cousin's compliance with medication. 

The team responded with a visit to Rowen on Russell Road – an action which was described as appropriate – but it was not able to arrange another visit until the next morning when Rowen was not at home.

It was this evening the paranoid schizophrenic called the police to tell them he was standing over Mr Lowry with an axe.

A spokesperson for GMMH said: "We accept all the findings in the report and offer our apologies for the shortcomings identified in the care and treatment we provided. We have already made a number of changes to our services and we will continue to prioritise building on these improvements as recommended by the report.

"Our deepest sympathies remain with Ryan’s family, friends and all who have been affected by this tragedy." 

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.