A MOTHER suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who attacked an 87-year-old woman was not receiving the treatment she needed despite her daughters raising concerns, a court has heard.
Patricia Southwood was left with a broken neck and arm after her friend Susan Allen, 56, snapped while they were at home in Threemilestone together.
At Truro Crown Court on Friday her barrister Sean Brunton said the incident could have been avoided if Allen had been given the help she needed earlier.
Jason Beal, for the prosecution, said Ms Southwood had been friends with Allen since they were neighbours in Cullompton in Devon.
Allen moved to Cornwall in late 2012 to be nearer her family, who had been concerned about her mental health since 2011.
Ms Southwood also moved to Cornwall and lived with Allen on Jubilee Road, Threemilestone.
"Both [Allen's] daughters were increasingly concerned about their mother's welfare and sought some assistance in relation to that," he said.
On July 3 Allen's daughters were unable to contact her, and Kerry Allen went to the house.
As she entered, she saw Ms Southwood on the floor of the living room "plainly bleeding and badly injured", Mr Beal said.
Police and paramedics found she had multiple lacerations to her head, arms and legs and fractures to her arm and two vertebrae in her neck.
Allen told officers: "Pat wouldn't leave me in peace; she wouldn't give me any privacy and kept bothering me ... I just remember her coming into my room and I tried to get her out."
Mr Beal said Ms Southwood, who was "plainly very keen to minimise the defendant's responsibility for what had taken place", went to ask Allen if she wanted a coffee and had been dragged down the stairs and hit around the head with something from the kitchen.
Broken bottles and a damaged frying pan were found there.
Allen, whose address was given in court as Fettle House, Bodmin Hospital, pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent to do GBH, but a guilty plea to a charge of inflicting GBH was accepted by the prosecution.
Mr Brunton said Allen was grateful for the "sensitive and realistic" approach taken by the Crown Prosecution Service and the police.
"But for the actions of her two very caring, sensible and attentive daughters, this could have course been a lot worse," he said.
"If their concerns had been heeded before, it is possible all this could have been avoided."
Judge Simon Carr ordered that Allen, who he said suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, be detained indefinitely at Bodmin Hospital under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act, telling her: "You were, through no fault of your own, [not] receiving the proper treatment at the time."
Judge Carr also imposed a restriction order under the same act, which means Allen will not be released until those treating her decide it is appropriate, and only with the agreement of the Home Office.
