Father who believed he was being poisoned stabbed wife to death

A father killed his wife by stabbing her 36 times because he believed she was poisoning him.

Neil Cumming was found not guilty of murder after a jury ruled he was insane at the time of the killing.

His bank worker wife Jane was found dead at their home in Perthshire after her husband of 16 years smashed his car into the back of a lorry at 101mph.

At the High Court in Glasgow on Monday Cumming, 46, the jury heard that he was suffering from persistent delusional disorder at the time he killed his wife.

Temporary judge Norman Ritchie QC ordered him to be detained at the State Hospital in Carstairs without limit of time to protect the public.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice, prosecuting, said Cumming had killed his wife on the morning of Friday, July 15, 2011, at the home in Mary Findlay Drive, Longforgan, that they shared with their two daughters aged 12 and 13.

During the morning Mrs Cumming’s mother and various members of her family tried to contact her on her landline and by text, without success. Eventually the killer spoke to someone at Ancrum Medical Centre in Dundee at around 11.30am. He told a medical secretary: "I have committed a terrible crime."

He added that his medication had been tampered with and was fake. An appointment was made for him later that day. Minutes later the accused again phoned the centre saying his tablets weren't working and he had taken hundreds of them.

Shortly afterwards he was seen driving his Volkwagen Passat out of the driveweay of his home. Cumming drove erratically through traffic, overtaking and undertaking before ploughing into the rear of a lorry on the A9 Perth to Dundee road. At the time he had unquantified levels of ketamine, diazepam, paracetamol and ibuprofen in his system.

After the crash, Cumming was trapped in his car and police managed to contact his wife’s sister who said she was worried as she had not been able to contact her.

When police checked the family home they found all the doors and windows locked and nothing untoward. But, on the insistence of Mrs Cumming’s family, the police returned to the house and on looking through the utility room door blinds they saw Jane lying in a pool of blood.

Psychiatric help

Constables smashed open the patio door and found Mrs Cumming dead. Next to her was a 13-page bloodstained letter from her husband, which was a confession and suicide note was found on the kitchen table.

The court heard that on Monday, July 11, just three days before her death Jane called a doctor at Wedderburn House, Dundee, because she was worried about her husband's mental state. Cumming, who had a history of mental illness, was seen at home the following day, but was not displaying any signs other than being very anxious.

He then visited his psychiatrist at Wedderburn House on July 14. His paranoia was apparent during the appointment and he was asked if he had ever considered harming himself and he replied he had never considered it and loved his wife and children.

The psychiatrist thought his medication should be reviewed and suggested he should be admitted to Carseview Hospital in Dundee, but there were no beds available.

It was decided to monitor him in the community until a bed became available. The court heard that in the view of the psychiatrist he was not in her view detainable under Mental Health legislation.

Defence QC John Hamilton said: "Mr Cumming loved his wife dearly and still can't understand the events that led to him harming her. That was the very last thing he ever wanted to do. His wife was his greatest support. There are two daughters aged 13 and 12 and he hasn't seen them since July last year.

"He doesn't know if he will ever see them again. He is really sorry for what he had done. He hopes that in due course his daughters will understand he was ill when he did what he did. He also wants to say sorry to Jane's family and say that it wasn't him it was the illness."

Professor Lindsay Thomson, a consultant forensic psychiatrists and medical director of the State Hospital told the court that Cumming was suffering from persistent delusional disorder.

She told the court that this took the form of believing he was being poisoned, being interfered with by the Masons and that people were plotting against him to make him lose his job.

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