North Tyneside psychiatric patient Thomas Gallagher jailed for life after wife murder

NORTH TYNESIDE PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT THOMAS GALLAGHER JAILED FOR LIFE AFTER WIFE MURDER

Health chiefs have ordered an inquiry into the care for a former psychiatric patient who butchered his estranged wife.Thomas Gallagher was jailed for life in April for murdering wife Elizabeth in Shiremoor, North Tyneside.

Elizabeth's mother Sylvia Shortt stated she only blamed Gallagher, not the system.

She said: "He took an overdose about a month before he murdered my daughter.

He had 10 days in North Tyneside Hospital and received the best possible care." Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority has commissioned an independent inquiry into the care Gallagher received before the murder.

Gallagher stabbed Elizabeth 30 times in the chest and back at their former home because he believed she was taunting him about a new relationship.Elizabeth's parents, Brian and Sylvia Shortt, have taken care of their two children, Lucy and Lauren.

Sylvia Shortt added: "He took the overdose and phoned my daughter so she would come rushing round.

We don't think he meant to kill himself but that it was a way to get sympathy and get her back.

It is ironic she saved his life and he ended up murdering her.

We have no sympathy for him.

He's left two little girls without a mum.

He has destroyed everyone's life but we are determined to cope." Gallagher, aged 45, a painter and decorator and heavy drinker, had struggled to cope after their marriage breakdown.

He had previously taken an overdose and threatened to stab his wife before the killing.

An inquiry has been commissioned into his mental health care, following national guidelines for crimes committed by those in psychiatric care.