Timeline of events of stabbing of Barrow taxi driver John MacMillan

MacMillan had been receiving treatment 350 miles from his home in Barrow at a high-security mental health unit in Maidstone in Kent after being assessed as being a high risk to the public in May 2019.

But less than three weeks later a psychiatrist at the unit reassessed him as being low-risk and sent him home to Barrow.

MacMillan pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Here is the timeline of events which led to the tragic death of John MacMillan and his son’s subsequent arrest and conviction:

December 2018

Jonathan MacMillan was detained under the Mental Health Act at Hadrian Ward in Carlisle and transferred to the Dova Unit, a mental health ward based on the Dane Garth site of Furness General Hospital, in January 2019.

January 2019

An overall assessment at Dane Garth showed Jonathan was not improving, and he maintained that he was not mentally ill. 

May 2019

Jonathan went missing while on escorted leave with his mother and was found several days later in Blackpool by his father. He was detained by officers of Lancashire Constabulary and taken to Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, for further assessment.

While he was missing, a decision had been made that he should be admitted to a male Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) when he was found, because of concerns about the risks he had presented.

May 26 2019

The only male PICU bed available at the time was a Cygnet Health Care Unit in Maidstone, Kent. Jonathan was transferred from A&E to Maidstone on May 26 2019 under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act.

Cygnet Hospital, Maidstone (Image: Newsquest)

June 13 2019

Due to an administrative error, the expiry date of Jonathan’s sectioning was incorrectly logged as June 14 instead of July 14.

On June 13, Jonathan’s Section 3 was rescinded and he was discharged and placed in a taxi to Barrow. He arrived at his mother’s address at 3am on June 14.

June 18 2019

Jonathan phoned his father and asked if he wanted to spend the day together. They drove out to the coast to work on a boat with some friends. At around 3.30pm Mr Macmillan dropped his son back to the house where he had been living in Barrow.

At around 6.30pm, Jonathan’s mother went round to the house to check on him and could hear shouting. She opened the door and saw Mr Macmillan lying on the floor at the foot of the stairs.

Five days later Jonathan confessed to killing his father, saying he believed he and others were able to abuse and manipulate him from afar.

Following his arrest he was transferred to the secure unit at Guild Lodge near Preston.

December 2019

Jonathan appeared at Preston Crown Court in December 2019 where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court case heard that Jonathan believed his dad was possessed by the devil when he stabbed him five times in the chest, and inflicted a 23cm wound to his neck, severing major arteries and fracturing his spine.

He has been locked up indefinitely and is being treated for paranoid schizophrenia at a secure unit in Lancashire.