A son who beat his retired father to death after escaping his psychiatric hospital read a poem at an inquest into his death.
Lung expert Dr Kim Harrison, 68, died after he was punched, kicked, stamped on and beaten with a broom handle by his son Daniel Harrison, 38, after he fled from doctors who had sectioned him under the Mental Health Act.
Daniel was chased by health workers after bolting from his bed and sprinting through the Neath Port Talbot Hospital in Wales where he was being detained.
He then dashed across a car park and travelled 12 miles in a taxi to his parents’ detached country home at Coniston Hall in Clydach, Swansea, to launch the vicious attack on his father in March 2022.
Daniel was allowed to attend his father’s inquest remotely via Teams from his secure hospital where read a poem and a tribute to his father, which he ended ‘from your ever-loving son, Dan.’
Daniel read two tributes he had written to his father at the inquest, including a poem he said he had penned on Father’s Day.
He read: ‘Dear dad, I wish you were here with me on this your special day for me to hold your hand and give you a hug, for you to understand how deep my love for you is.
‘Through the tragic loss we have all endured you have made the biggest sacrifice one can make.
‘To heal the bones as they had once unknowingly broken and did not know how to mend.
‘I wish you were here by my side for you to help guide me through life with arms open wide.
‘I am so sorry for all of our loss and I hope in my heart you can feel these words and look back upon me with that same gentle smile for which you will always be remembered.’ He finished the poem as ‘from your ever-loving son, Dan.’
A court previously heard Daniel escaped from Neath Port Talbot hospital to the family home – then fled to catch a train to London. But he was arrested in the Rathbone Hotel near Paddington station the following day.
Dr Harrison and wife Jane had been warned of Daniel’s escape and told he may be heading in their direction after the couple previously raised increasing concerns about their son’s mental heath.
But despite the warning Dr Harrison was attacked at Coniston Hall home in Clydach, Swansea on March 12.
In an interview, Daniel said he punched his father knocking off his glasses and sending him to the floor before delivering more punches and kicks to him.
He then fled on foot and caught a train from Swansea to London and was arrested two days later.
Daniel told police that he felt ‘manipulated’ by his parents and that his father had caused him ‘trauma’.
He died 20 days later on April 9 and Daniel was sentenced for manslaughter via diminished responsibility.
Doctors said Daniel was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and suffered an ‘abnormality of mind’.
Daniel admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and was remanded indefinitely to a secure hospital under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.
The inquest, before a jury at Swansea Guildhall, is due to last two-and-a-half weeks.
Daniel’s mother, Dr Jane Harrison told the inquest: ‘How do you encapsulate a life? How do you convey the essence of 68 years of a life well-lived? A professional career going back 50 years, a loving marriage of 41 years, 38 years of wonderful parenting?
‘How do you express the depth and breadth of loss? The impact on me his wife; his sons; his sister Zoe; our wider family, friends and colleagues. The answer is you can’t.’
She paid tribute to her son saying the family was ‘acutely aware of how difficult’ the inquest would be for Daniel, adding: ‘It is testament to his recovery, his strength and his deep love for Kim that he is here with us.’
‘He has come so far over the past 20 months although this is a long journey with the heaviest of burdens to bare.’
She added: ‘Dad would be so proud of you Dan, we love you very much.’
Dr Harrison, a father of four and a renowned chest consultant, helped to set up the Respiratory Unit at Swansea’s Morriston Hospital during a nearly 40-year-long career in the NHS.
Source: DAILY MAIL
