A 30-year-old mother has pleaded guilty to killing an 88-year-old church warden and stabbing three other shoppers in a frenzied knife attack in a crowded supermarket.
Mother-of-one Zara Anne Radcliffe stabbed John Rees in the face inside a Co-op shop while his 87-year-old dementia-suffering wife Eunice waited in their car in the village of Peygraig in the Rhondda, South Wales, in May.
In her frenzied attack, Radcliffe – who suffered from schizophrenia – also stabbed nurse Lisa Way, 53, shopper Andrew Price, 58, and fellow nurse Gaynor Saurin, 65.
Mr Rees died from severe blunt trauma to the face including multiple facial fractures. The other three victims survived.
Radcliffe – a single mother to a young son – was a patient at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital for five months. She came out of hospital at the start of the lockdown.
A romantic relationship with a man had ended in the weeks leading up to the attack.
Zara Anne Radcliffe, 30, has pleaded guilty at Merthyr Crown Court to the manslaughter by diminished responsibility of 88-year-old John Rees
Radcliffe stabbed John Rees in the face inside a Co-op shop while his 87-year-old dementia-suffering wife Eunice (pictured together) waited in their car in the village of Peygraig in the Rhondda, South Wales, in May
Radcliffe also believed police ‘weren’t taking her seriously’ about an alleged assault against her, her family claim.
She today pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Rees by reason of diminished responsibility. She had denied murder.
She also admitted the attempted murders of Mr Price, Ms Saurin and Ms Way – who were all injured in the incident.
She spoke only to enter her pleas from Rampton secure hospital, where she is currently being held.
Radcliffe – a single mother to a young son – was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of her vicious rampage and was a patient at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital for five months
Radcliffe also pleaded guilty to three charges of attempted murder of nurse Lisa Way, 53, shopper Andrew Price, 58, (left) and nurse Gaynor Saurin, 65, (right) at the Co-operative store
Ms Way, 53, was stabbed as she was shopping in the village after completing her shift at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in nearby Llantrisant
Eunice Reese, 87, who is said to suffer from dementia, was waiting in the car as her husband was stabbed to death
Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, told the court the pleas were acceptable to the Crown as at the time of the incident Radcliffe was suffering from schizophrenia.
Mr Rees, a retired senior engineer, lived with his wife Eunice at their home in nearby Trealaw.
An inquest heard he was attacked by a woman while he was in the shop and died from severe blunt trauma to his face including multiple facial fractures.
Church warden Mr Rees was described as ‘the very definition of a good man, extremely respected and liked in the community’ by his family.
Radcliffe will be sentenced on Wednesday at Merthyr Crown Court.
Mr Rees, pictured, with his wife Eunice, was described as ‘the very definition of a good man, extremely respected and liked in the community’
Speaking just days after the attack, Radcliffe’s cousin Donna Evans, 33, said: ‘I knew she has some mental health problems and said she was hearing voices.
‘I only saw her the day before and she was saying the police weren’t taking her seriously.
‘I was asking her what it was all about but she wasn’t making much sense.’
‘She was doing well when she came out of hospital but she started putting strange stuff on Facebook and I remember thinking she’s not well again.
‘It’s not her to do some thing like this, I can’t understand it.’
A relative said in the hours before the stabbings Radcliffe had called police to ask about a complaint she had made over an alleged assault.
Police examining CCTV footage from the Co-op said the incident was ‘extremely shocking and distressing’ for the local community.