Casey Kearney Murder Trial: Hannah Bonser Told Staff She Had 'Done Something Silly', Court Hears

Murder Accused Told Charity Staff She Had 'Done Something Silly', Court Hears

A woman told staff at a mental health charity she had "done something silly" after she fatally stabbed a 13-year-old girl in a park, one of the workers has told a jury.

Hannah Bonser, 26, went into the offices of the Rethink organisation in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, after she attacked Casey Kearney in Elmfield Park in the town, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Casey died later in hospital.

Rethink worker Alan Brown told the court today that he answered the door to Bonser that day.

Casey Kearney was murdered on Valentine's Day after dialling 999 for help

He said she asked to speak to his colleague, Tareen Mallin.

But he added that Bonser wanted him to stay because Miss Mallin would not be safe otherwise.

Mr Brown told the jury: "She felt that she'd done something silly and she wanted to speak to somebody.

"She then said that she's stabbed somebody."

Mr Brown said they went back inside the building where Bonser handed over two knives and the police were called.

He told the jury: "She was as calm as could be.

"She was lucid in her speech.

"It was as though we were just having a general conversation.

"There was no worry. There was no anxiety."

Bonser denies murdering Casey, who was from Rossington, Doncaster, on February 14.

The court has heard she does not deny attacking Casey but is likely to claim diminished responsibility due to her mental condition.

The court heard that Bonser described herself as "a complete psychopath" about a month before the attack on Casey.

Outreach worker Miss Mallin told the jury the defendant stayed in Rethink's crisis accommodation in Doncaster for a week in January.

She was shown a log entry for the day before she left which recorded that she had asked to see a doctor to get anti-psychotic drugs.

David Fish QC, defending, asked Miss Mallin: "Before leaving, she (Bonser) said she wanted to be seen by a doctor, wanted some anti-psychotic medication and that her thoughts towards others was such that she was saying that she was a complete psychopath?"

The outreach worker agreed with this interpretation of the notes which recorded that she was told to bring these matters up with an access team which would visit her home.

The jury also heard that an assessment form filled in with Bonser at the start of her stay with Rethink said: "I used to read until I read Catch 22 and my mind exploded.

"I used to watch TV but the noise started to split my head apart."

On the same form, Bonser is recorded as saying that she isolated herself from other people because "I may harm them psychologically", she went out shopping but "forgot to get heating and electricity" and had little social support from friends.

The jury heard that the author of the form wrote: "Claims to have driven them all away for their own good."

The court was told that, in another assessment, when asked about previous charges or arrests, Bonser noted that she "was given a warning for carrying a kitchen knife around the street when feeling scared".

Earlier, Miss Mallin told the jury about Bonser's visit to her office after she had attacked Casey on February 14.

She said she called the police and said the defendant appeared to accept that this was what was going to happen.

Miss Mallin told the jury: "She said she'd been hearing male voices and they'd been telling her to do evil things and they were dragging up her past."

She added: "She mentioned that she'd been unwell for quite a long time."

In a statement read to the court, Pc Daniel Sharp said he tried to treat Casey before paramedics arrived and, at first, did not realise the teenager had been stabbed.

The officer said he tried to encourage her to keep breathing and, once the stab wound had been located, he kept pressure on the wound, staying with her until she was taken into an operating theatre at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

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