A heartbroken mother whose only son brutally stabbed her “defenceless” husband to death as he lay in bed with Covid has begged a judge to “give my son back to me”.
Benjamin Moglione, 23, stabbed his stepfather, former Detective Inspector Andrew McDiarmid, 17 times with a kitchen knife at the family home on Merseyside.
He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter midway through a trial at Liverpool Crown Court, saying he was suffering from post-ictal psychosis resulting from an epileptic seizure at the time of the killing.
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A judge yesterday sentenced university student Moglione to an indefinite hospital stay, meaning he will receive in-patient treatment until the Foreign Secretary sees fit for him to be discharged, the Liverpool Echo reports.
During the hearing, Moglione’s mother Alison Moglione read a statement describing the “indescribable pain and suffering” of the “tragic circumstances” that “resulted in the death of my late husband, my son’s fight for his life and the destruction of my life and that of the entire family.”
She also described Mr McDiarmid, a former detective who worked for Merseyside Police for 30 years, as a “wonderful husband and stepfather who was loved and cherished” and with whom she had “lived happily for 17 years”.
Ms Moglione added: “I firmly believe that if this had not happened, I would have lost my son forever. Ben was a hardworking, honest young man who worked tirelessly to complete his degree while managing a challenging health condition.
“He, like the rest of the family, will suffer for many years to come from the most unimaginable tragedy that has occurred. I ask you to return my son to me so that I can begin to heal and rebuild.”
“This is not a criminal case. It is a case of medical negligence. It’s hard to understand how this happened to such a loyal, loving family man. It is still not clear to me why this tragedy occurred.
“I have been left without the one person I want to grow old with and who made my life complete. My husband has lost the pension he worked so hard for while serving the community and being an incredible husband, stepfather and family man.
“I know he wants to get to the bottom of why this happened. I will never rest until this is dealt with openly and with complete transparency.”
Couple had a ‘positive’ relationship
The court was told that McDiarmid was a ‘kind, attentive and supportive father, stepfather and husband’ and that there was nothing to suggest the relationship between him and Moglione was ‘anything other than positive’.
Gordon Cole KC previously told the jury at the opening of the trial in March that Moglione’s mother Alison had called 999 at around 8.45pm on January 24, 2022, reporting that her son had stabbed her husband.
Emergency services then attended the address and found Mr McDiarmid seriously injured on top of the bed in the couple’s bedroom.
He is said to have suffered “approximately 17 injuries to his body”, 13 of which were stab wounds and “some described as incised wounds”. Mr Cole told the court that a number of these injuries had been inflicted “with severe violence”.
Moglione was arrested at the scene and has been in hospital since. The prosecution described how all three parties had been at home on the evening in question, with the suspect – who was represented by Anne Whyte KC – having recently “emerged from a period of isolation in his bedroom” due to Covid.
Mr McDiarmid, meanwhile, was self-isolating in his room after testing positive. At around 8pm that night, Moglione “told his mother he was going to take his medication before he went to bed.”
About half an hour later, Ms. Moglione took a shower in the upstairs bathroom. An internal CCTV camera placed on a table in the hallway covering the area of the front door then showed her son walking downstairs from his bedroom in his dressing gown and slippers before taking a knife from a magnetic block on the wall of the room. kitchen.
He went back upstairs with the gun in his right hand before entering Mr McDiarmid’s room. Mr Cole said “screaming, moaning and heavy breathing” could then be heard on the footage.
Moglione – who appeared in the dock in a dark gray suit alongside three members of hospital staff – then entered the bathroom where his mother was showering to “wash herself of blood stains” before the footage showed her wearing a towel wrapped around and walked downstairs, followed by her son. The bloodstained knife was later found on the bed in the master bedroom.
‘You brutally attacked and murdered your stepfather’
Passing sentence on Thursday afternoon, Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC’s honorary registrar said: ‘I would like to say at the outset that the sentence I am about to impose on you will result in you being in a secure hospital for the foreseeable future Is being detained.
“How long you are held will depend on your response to treatment, the expert opinion of the medical team monitoring you and the extent to which you pose an ongoing risk to the public.
“You brutally attacked and murdered your stepfather Andrew McDiarmid as he lay resting in bed suffering from the effects of Covid. There was no warning of this attack and nothing had happened to provoke it.
“You simply armed yourself with a large kitchen knife, went into the bedroom and stabbed him multiple times when he was completely defenseless. Your mother was in the shower at the time and came out to be confronted with this unfolding nightmare.
“You stabbed your victim at least 13 times with tremendous force, causing catastrophic damage to the heart. As a result of what you did, you not only took the life of Andrew McDiarmid, but also the lives of so many others who loved them have lost loved ones, destroyed beyond repair.
‘It is clear that Mr McDiarmid was a kind, caring and supportive father, stepfather and husband. He had enjoyed a successful career as a police officer and looked forward to continuing his retirement should you end his life.
“There was never any doubt that you were the person responsible for this heinous crime. It became clear early on that the central issue would be whether you were suffering from serious symptoms of mental illness at the time you committed this crime and, if so, what role these played in what you did.
“You are clearly an intelligent young man. There is no indication that the relationship between the two of you was anything other than positive.
“It appears that your epilepsy was not well controlled. By the time of the fatal attack you were experiencing clusters of seizures and a treatment regimen that was not working.
“The prosecution is now satisfied that the evidence shows that your ability to understand the nature of your behaviour, to make rational judgements or to exercise self-control was significantly impaired. If that were not the case, you would still be charged with murder.
“All medical experts agreed that you were probably suffering from post-ictal psychosis at the time of the attack. This is a condition that affects some epilepsy patients and is a serious mental condition in itself.
“It is characterized by a disconnection from reality and usually follows a cluster of epileptic seizures, and people who experience such an episode may behave violently toward others. All experts agreed that the symptoms of your postictal psychosis include fluctuating combinations of thought disturbances, auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and mood swings, including mania that affects reason, memory, and comprehension.”