A JURY is likely to be asked make a decision today (Thursday, 24 February) in the murder trial of a Grays woman who has admitted killing her mother.

They will have to make that decision after balancing conflicting opinions from psychiatrists who have examined Cheryl Banks, of Lenmore Avenue where the killing happened in June last year.

On the third day of the trial at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, where there were emotional moments as Mrs Banks son and daughter briefly gave evidence, consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Raman Deo, Clinical Director of Essex (EPUT) Secure Mental Health Services, delivered his opinion on the state of Mrs Banks' mental health – and produced an entirely different view to that of Dr Alan Reid, who had delivered his report and been cross examined the day before.

Dr Reid had concluded that Mrs Banks suffered depressive episodes that at times were severe. He believed her condition was a recognised mental health disorder.

And that at the time she killed her mother, 89-year-old Winifred Grover: "I think she was suffering from an abnormality in mental functioning as part of a recognised mental health condition."

Dr Deo significantly differs in his diagnosis and does not believe Mrs Banks' mental health was at a point where it would justify a decision of manslaughter by virtue of diminished responsibility, a charge to which Mr Banks has already indicated she would plead guilty.

Dr Deo told the court he had taken part in interviews via video link with Mrs Banks while she was being remanded in prison following her mother's death.

As had Dr Reid, he detailed some of the comments made by Mrs Banks. He told the court Mrs Banks had said: "I felt there was no future for me or mum. Mum had dementia and moved in with me.

"We were living in Grays, mum was also not well with physical health problems, she was fairly dependent on me, she couldn't wash herself, she couldn't cook.

"She wasn't a woman who had a lot of conversation but never had been. We would pop out together whenever we could though we did it less in the pandemic."

Dr Deo said Mrs Banks felt her mother had declined after she came out of hospital and he acknowledged that the pressure and stress of caring for her mother had increased.

He also referred to fears expressed by Mrs Banks that she might end up in prison as a result of a perceived act of fraud relating to her mother's finances – though it has been repeatedly stressed to the court that there was, in fact, nothing to worry about.

Dr Deo said Mrs Banks told him: "I took money out of my mum's account and put it my ISA, I was worried we had not let the council know what we had in her account. I was worried I might go to prison."

Mrs Banks also told Dr Deo about the impact on her of the reappearance of a niece, Jennifer, in her life, someone who had previously caused rifts and problems within the family and who had been accused of sending a blood-smeared razor blade to Mrs Grover at one point.

Recounting all this, and noting the many stresses she was clearly under, Dr Deo said that he was not convinced they were of a weight to prompt diagnosis of a serious medical condition.

He said: "She had worries but at no point was she delusional."

Asked by defence barrister Tana Adkin: "When you were having a dialogue with her, how was that dialogue?" Dr Deo responded: "She presented well, was free flowing, coherent, I didn't notice any particular difficulties in the engagement, I certainly didn't see her as a severely depressed person.

"She said 'I could not see any future for me and mum, I thought I could end up in prison, I didn't talk to my son or husband about it'."

On the killing and her own attempted suicide that followed, Dr Deo said Mrs Banks had told him: "I did it because I wanted to die. She had to die because I didn't want her to end in a home on her own.

"I wanted to die because of my fraud and Jennifer was stressing me out. Mum was getting more difficult."

Dr Deo told the court: "I asked her about her view she was committing fraud and was she totally convinced? She said 'I wasn't convinced it was a fraud, I just wasn't sure and it stressed me out. I was stressed because Jennifer wanted to get back in our lives'."

He continued: "In terms of my observations, I was very clear she was not delusional at that time. Delusion is an unshakeable belief outside your usual standing, Did she have an absolute conviction? Had Mrs Banks told me that she was absolutely certain she had committed fraud and was certain she was going to prison, that would have been different but she did not."

Dr Deo conceded it was not impossible that she was in a different state of mind at the time of the killing but he had asked her about how she felt at that time and she did not seem 'convinced' about her fears.

He said: "There are scales of mild, moderate or severe depression, it's not my view that she was depressed. She was seen by a forensic mental health nurse who would have been alive to the issues of depression, the main purpose of her assessment is to inform the prison about her health and to raise core related issues. Her report was remarkably unremarkable given what had happened, the nurse was not concerned about any risk of self-harm."

Ms Adkin raised the question of lack of sleep as it had previously been stated several times that Mrs Banks was sleeping on a sofa downstairs where she was frequently interrupted in the night by her mother's need but Dr Deo insisted she showed no markers of a depressive episode. He did not think a lack of sleep was a cause of severe depression.

Conceding that the 'unwelcome re-emergence of Jennifer who had caused a great deal of stress in her life, her mother's poor health and the worries about finance' were in the mindset of Mrs Banks, he concluded: "This lady had very little history of mental health contact. I do not hold a view that Mrs Banks would have been severely depressed or had psychotic issues at the time of the killing.

"It is my view that Mrs Banks' beliefs were not an unshakeable belief that meant she was delusional. It is more realistic in my view that she was struggling with high levels of stress and worries because of a combination of a number of difficulties in her life. Stress and worry is not a defined medical condition.

"There are other factors that showed her relative wellness, ie going out for walks etc and her conversations with her close friend Tracie Jones, that caused Ms Jones to have no reason to be concerned.

"She was likely to have some elements of low mood, but she was not suffering with stresses that made her take the course of action that she did. There is no evidence in my mind that she showed any psychotic symptoms.

"She had showed no abnormal symptoms. It is not my view that there is any abnormality of function related to a recognised medical condition - negating a defence of diminished responsibility. I accept this is a person who had suffered a high level of stress but in terms of severe depression, she does not support any biological symptoms of depression."

Asked if Mrs Banks could have learned behaviour to cover up her depression, Dr Deo said it would be very difficult to mask it. "We are not talking about mild or moderate but severe depression that would always be noticed by other people," he said.

Asked by Ms Adkin about people who were 'perfectly fine and showed no indications but then committed suicide that left people astonished', Dr Deo said: "What we have here is an absence of any objective evidence from those living with her, family, son, husband,daughter. There was no evidence of a marked loss of interest in doing things that she enjoyed which would also be a symptom."

And he cited the video shown of Mrs Banks being booked into the custody suite at Grays police station just a couple of days after the killing, saying: "I saw no evidence of mental illness. She was being asked questions, she was spontaneous in her speech, she was loud in her speech, she offered good details in her answers. She was appropriate in her response to all questions. She was pointedly asked if she had any mental health problems. She said 'no'.

"She clearly understood what she was being asked to do. She was responsive. I didn't find anything particularly strange about her behaviour. If that is severely depressed, I have a real problem with it. I found her normal."

Ms Adkins asked: "Your opinion is that Mrs Banks, because of her worries and stresses and it was hard to care for her mother, decided to kill her."

Dr Deo replied: "I am not offering a view why she killed her mother. What I am saying is I don't think she had a mental disorder."

Relating to Mrs Banks' statement that she killed her mother and then attempted to kill herself so they 'could be together' rather than her go to prison and her mother end up in a home, Ms Adkin said: "Is that rational?" Dr Deo said it wasn't a case of being rational, his findings and personal opinion were based on the evidence before him.

Following the evidence of Dr Deo there were brief and highly emotional appearances in court by Mrs Banks son, Christopher, and then her daughter Hannah Ashwell.

Mr Banks told how he and his father had discovered the scenes at their home on the evening of Monday, 21 June and detailed his family life, saying his grandmother had moved in permanently with them in 2018.

His mother was his nan's main carer and he admitted that he didn't spend as much time as he would have liked talking to his mother and it was only occasionally that he and Mrs Banks talked about things, including his grandmother.

He told how he knew his mother was worried about his nan's deteriorating condition but that he had not long been aware of the other pressures on her, which she kept to herself. Mrs Banks had previously been described as a stoical, intimate person who did not share her concerns.

His mother attempted to kill herself in October 2020 and it was only after that that some of her concerns came out. He told the court it was only afterwards he found about his mother's financial concerns.

He said: "From my understanding of it, it was about my nan's financial position and her benefits and if she had too much money in her account her benefits would be amended.

"She was very worried about that and thought that she might go to jail for fraud.

"My sister Googled it. We checked it and told her not to panic, we could get amendments made." But he said he didn't know if his mother had done anything.

Quizzed about her being awake in the early hours, Mr Banks said: "I wouldn't say it was new, she had insomnia anyway. She was awake a little bit more.

And he continued: "When covid came she stayed by the rules and stayed in. When the rules changed, she might go to the shops on her own, only occasionally she took nan.

"Her mood was a little bit more snappy towards my dad, they had been married 40 of years, which is what I put it down to. Nothing too crazy. They were married! Wasn't really anything different to how she had always been with dad."

He described a brief interlude when caring services came in to help with his grandmother, saying: "The carers were not thoughtful, they were very quick and fast with body washing. She would scream a bit, down to dementia. Mum used to ask them to take time.

"Nan didn't like strangers. But they were there to do a job and just get in and out. Mum didn't want them to continue, she had the option to but didn't."

Asked by Ms Adkin: "Did you ever have any conversations with your mother about how she was feeling?" Mr Banks replied 'no'.

Mrs Banks daughter Hannah Ashwell made a brief and tearful appearance in court and was clearly distressed at the sight of her mother in the dock. Both were in tears and at times she had to take a break to compose herself as she told the court about her mother and her caring, giving but self-effacing nature by which she kept her problems to herself.

Mrs Ashwell, who now lives in Kent with her husband and family but was in Purfleet at the time of the death of her nan last June, said she had not had much contact with her mum during covid. She said they 'obeyed the rules and were very careful'.

Ask by Ms Adkins: "Did she ever tell you that she was struggling with mother's condition, she said 'no' and told the court she had seen no sign of anything adverse prior to her mother's first suicide attempt.

She added: "We talked about it when she came out she said it wouldn't happen again. She didn't give me a reason why she had done it then, but afterwards she told me she was worried about something to do with money and that she might have to go to jail,

"I was surprised, I didn't think she had done anything wrong. All the money was there. I said to call them and explain and that if anything needed to be done, she could just pay it back. I thought she had called them. At the back of my head I think she said she had called them and it was sorted.

"The suicide issue wasn't raised again."

She told of the thorough and efficient way in which Cheryl looked after her grandmother, saying the relationship between Mrs Banks and Mrs Grover 'wasn't like it was before the dementia' but said the bond between them remained strong.

Asked in closing by Ms Adkin: "As far as your perception, did your mother ever say anything about how she was feeling through covid and onwards. Or that she was worried?" Mrs Ashwell replied: "Not that I recall, she wouldn't want to worry me."

The trial continues.

Previous reports