A court has been told that Matthew Daley had an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic illness.
16:42, UK,Monday 09 May 2016
A man accused of the "road rage" murder of a retired solicitor had been wrongly diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a court has heard.
Jurors were told that Matthew Daley, 35, instead had an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness that went undiagnosed for years.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Roderick Ley made the assessment of Daley after he was arrested following the fatal stabbing of Donald Lock.
Mr Lock, 79, was knifed 39 times after crashing at about 16mph into the back of Daley's Ford Fusion car on the A24 near Worthing in West Sussex on July 16 last year.
The minor crash happened after great-grandfather Mr Lock, who was returning from a cycling meeting, was forced to brake suddenly when Daley made an emergency stop.
Mr Lock, who had recently been given the all-clear from prostate cancer, died at the scene as Daley sped off.
Jurors have heard that Daley had been suffering from mental health problems for 10 years, and his family had "pleaded" with mental health experts to section him.
Dr Ley told the trial at Lewes Crown Court: "It's clear that the diagnosis of Asperger's was wrong. He has an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness that was undiagnosed for many, many years."
The court was told of an incident outside a pub in which Daley held down a man he suspected was in a relationship with his girlfriend, telling him repeatedly: "Do you yield?"
Dr Ley said Daley was not psychotic every moment of every day. And Daley would often "downplay" his symptoms, jurors were told.
Dr Ley agreed that Daley exhibited "narcissistic", "histrionic" and "self-centred" traits, adding that it was unlikely he would ever have complete resolution of his illness.
The court also heard that while working as a lifeguard, he started hearing voices of young children and believed people were projecting thoughts into his head.
A week before the trial, the chief executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust wrote an apology to Daley's family, saying his care "should have been better", the court has heard.
In court hearing the evidence were Mr Lock's widow Maureen, and relatives of Daley, including his mother Lynda.
Daley, formerly of Worthing, denies murder, but admits manslaughter through diminished responsibility.
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