Man guilty of killing gran was sectioned months before death

Chanatorn Croghan, 21, has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

A restriction order under Section 41 has also been issued which would require the Secretary of State to authorise his release.

It comes after he previously admitted killing Vera Croghan, 89, in a house fire on Unthank Road on December 11, 2020.

Croghan, who was detained under the mental health act after being arrested in connection with Mrs Croghan's death, had previously been detained under the act - just seven months before his grandmother was killed.

Croghan spent time being treated at Southern Hill Hospital, a mental health facility at Gimingham, near Mundesley, after having found to be suffering from psychotic symptoms in May 2020.

That admission to hospital prior to Mrs Croghan's death is to form part of a review being conducted into what led up to her death.

Stuart Richardson, chief executive of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are actively involved in an independent review of this homicide case which has been commissioned by the Norfolk Community Safety Partnership in line with national guidance.

"We are unable to comment further at this stage of an active hearing.”

Croghan, of Northside in Norwich, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Friday (October 14) after having previously admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He had also admitted another charge of arson with intent to endanger life on a reckless basis.

Those pleas were accepted by the prosecution after reports from three separate psychiatrists all agreed he was suffering from diminished responsibility due his mental condition.

One report had found he had a “psychotic disorder secondary to multiple substance abuse issues".

He also admitted two assaults on prison officers at HMP Norwich on March 21 this year and April 19 this year.

Croghan, a former Wymondham College student, was in his first year studying Artificial Intelligence at the University of Manchester at the time of the killing.

The defendant, who previously lived in Thailand and came back to the UK in 2017, had only been staying with his gran just a day before her death.

He had previously lived with her a few years earlier but had to look for alternative accommodation due to his difficult behaviour.

But while the relationship with his grandmother was "a little but fractured" there were no significant issues.

Also staying with Mrs Croghan at the time of her death was the defendant's father Richard who had been staying with his mum to "help look after her".

The night before the victim's body was discovered "there had been a disagreement" between father and son, understood to be over a phone charger.

It was a "very minor disagreement" but police were called, although it was later established no offences had been committed.

Croghan's father left the property leaving the defendant there with his grandmother.

Later that night Croghan started a fire under the stairs preventing his grandmother from coming down to be able to escape.

She would be discovered in her bedroom and died as a result of smoke inhalation.

Detective Inspector Chris Burgess, senior investigating officer, said mental health was a "key part of this case".

Detective Inspector Chris Burgess

No motive has been found for the killing which DI Burgess said has meant it has been even more difficult for the family to try and come to terms with.

He said: "The family have quite understandably found it difficult to comprehend what has happened and why."

DI Burgess added: "It's tragic.

"She should have been protected by her grandson not killed by him.

"She was such a was such a well-respected, clever individual. It's just senseless."