A mentally ill man who bludgeoned his mother death with a Champagne bottle after being let out of a psychiatric hospital has been sectioned indefinitely today.
Gilbert Corette admitted killing 81-year-old Marie Elcie Florise Corette and attacking his sister Patricia on July 8 last year.
The attack came after the 45-year-old was granted unsupervised leave from Lewisham Hospital’s Ladywell Unit the same day.
He was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and a major depressive disorder with psychotic features.
His family had referred him to the specialist mental health unit earlier in 2015 after he collapsed while working at Tesco as a trolley collector, a job he had for 15 years.
He later detained at the unit under the mental health act, but was eventually released, firstly supervised and then unsupervised, when his condition improved.
Today at the Old Bailey he was sectioned under the mental health act to a secure hospital unit.
The court heard he had no previously history of violence in the past, but his mother was frightened of him and had padlocked some of the doors in the family home.
On the morning of the killing, his mother called an ambulance after her daughter had been hit on the head with a Champagne bottle at the house in Lewisham, south London, following an argument.
Police arrived and found Corette covered in blood and “blood all over the house.”
He told officers “I’ve had a death threat in hospital” and had to get out.
He would later tell doctors: “If I didn’t get out of there (hospital) I would have killed myself.”
Officers eventually forced entry to a bedroom and where they found mum Marie, lying on the floor behind the door.
Both his mother and sister were taken to hospital and where Mrs Corette died later the same day.
At a previous hearing Corette pleaded not guilty to his mother’s murder but guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
He also admitted causing GBH to his sister and both pleas were accepted by the Crown following consultation with his family.
The court heard, while being examined by psychiatric doctors, Corette said: “I don’t know why I hit her. I’m so devastated at what has happened.”
Sentencing judge Charles Wide QC said: “You pleaded guilty before me on the 11th of March this year to the manslaughter in relation to Marie Elcie Florise Corette and causing GBH with intent to Patricia Corette.
“This offence took place on the 8th of July last year.
“It is a terribly sad and tragic case. You were obviously mentally ill at the time.
“This case must have caused great distress and anxiety to members of your family.
“Although this has been a short hearing, enormous care has been given to the preparation and consideration of this case.”
He said the hearing and matter of a restriction order was not just being “nodded though” and had been given proper consideration by psychiatric experts.
The judge said: “I am quite satisfied on the basis of the evidence from doctors that you are suffering from a mental disorder.”
He ordered Corette to be detained in a hospital for medical treatment and that a restriction order was appropriate “for the protection of the public from serious harm”.
Corette, of Lewisham, was sentenced to a hospital order for both offences to run concurrently, with a section 41 restriction order to run indefinitely.
