Teenager killed widow with axe in drink-fuelled rage after losing a computer game to his brother

By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 7:37 AM on 27th October 2009

A schizophrenic teenager killed a grandmother with an axe when he went on a drunken rampage after losing at computer games.

After drinking a bottle of vodka, James Callaghan, 17, stormed out of his home in a rage armed with an axe and a long-bladed knife.

He threatened to attack two girls, struck a passer-by on the head with the axe, terrified a cyclist and tried to smash his way into a couple's flat.

By the time police arrived he had forced his way into Irene Roberton's home and killed the 65-year-old widow, Hull Crown Court heard yesterday.

In a scene of unimaginable horror, Callaghan, who did not know his victim, struck her six times on the head with the axe, chopped off a finger and repeatedly stabbed her in the back, stomach and leg.

Guy Kearl, QC, prosecuting, told the court: 'On the flat walls and on a mirror Callaghan had written a message to his mother in lipstick saying that he was sorry and hadn't intended to kill an old woman.'

Callaghan, now 18, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and unlawful wounding. He was sent indefinitely to a high security mental hospital.

After his arrest Callaghan was diagnosed as being a paranoid schizophrenic. He told psychiatrists that for several months he had been hearing voices in his head urging him to kill and had seen a man 'with horns on his head'. He said he began drinking heavily to cope with these visions.


Victim: Widow Irene Roberton was bludgeoned six times with the axe

In the hours before the rampage, Callaghan lost three consecutive games of Fifa 2008, playing at home against his younger brother and a friend.

He also played the computer game Grand Theft Auto, which sends the player's character on a violent crime spree. Callaghan, a jobless shop fitter, had no previous convictions and at the time of the killing was not receiving treatment for his mental health problems.

He was known by his friends to be violent after drinking alcohol. As a six-year-old he had threatened his mother with a kitchen knife.

While a young child Callaghan had been referred to the community psychiatric nurse on three occasions as his mother struggled to control his behaviour, the court heard.

Mr Kearl said that in the early hours of December 28 last year Callaghan 'went on a rampage of escalating violence' after ' consuming most of a bottle of vodka'.

The attacks all happened within a mile of his home in Hull. First, he confronted Rebecca Johnson, 20, and Danni Burham, 17, as they sat on a bench eating a takeaway.


Chilling: Callaghan scrawled a message on a mirror in lipstick apologising for killing Ms Roberton

Callaghan smashed the axe into the bench between them and pulled out his knife. He told them: 'I'll stab you and chop off her head off.'

The terrified girls ran off and Callaghan then confronted Darren Morrow, 18, who ran but tripped and fell. Callaghan straddled him and swung the axe at his head.

'It hit him on the left side of the head just in front of his ear, stunning him and knocking him back to the ground,' said Mr Kearl. Mr Morrow managed to grab the axe, get to his feet and escape.

Next Callaghan threatened cyclist Jamie Netherton by waving the axe above his head. Mr Netherton fled and Callaghan attacked Mrs Roberton, leaving her dying on the bedroom floor.

He then tried to attack Mushin Thejeel and his wife Sana Kadum, who lived next to Mrs Robertson.

He smashed a hole in their front door with his axe, demanded alcohol and threatened to kill Mr Thejeel. Police were called and when they arrived Callaghan dropped his axe and admitted killing a woman.

Eric Elliott, QC, defending, said: 'This case is sad beyond words. The pain the Roberton family feel is unimaginable. These events are hardly credible were it not for the fact that he was suffering from a severe mental illness.'