Lanarkshire mother suffers 'wrecking ball' grief after daughter stabbed to death after Christmas shopping

A mother from Lanarkshire has told how her daughter was brutally murdered just hours after a Christmas shopping trip together.

Louise Gallacher, 62, was heartbroken when Joanne Gallacher, 33, was repeatedly stabbed by James Kennedy in Biggar, Lanarkshire.

The mother of three from East Kilbride was killed in December 2018 when she went to check on him.

Kennedy is currently being held at the State Hospital in Carstairs after admitting wilful killing at the High Court in Glasgow in 2019 on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Last year, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain ordered an inquiry into the fatal accident, saying the circumstances of the death had caused “significant public concern”.

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Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that Mrs Gallacher, Joanne and their daughter Emma Boyce, 21, were Christmas shopping in Glasgow when Joanne received a call about Kennedy.

She was dropped off near her home after meeting her mother to go Christmas shopping the next day.

But Mrs Gallacher said the next time she saw her was in a mortuary.

In her statement, she said: “The last time I saw her, she was in top shape and the next time I saw her, she was in the morgue and I couldn't touch her or anything.”

“For the past five years, I have moved away from my role as Joanne's mother to tell a girl's story, almost as if it weren't true.

“It was just a story I could have seen on a TV show.

“December last year was like a wrecking ball and I realized she wasn't coming back and I went downhill and couldn't handle my job anymore.”

The inquest heard that Joanne and Kennedy met at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, while receiving treatment for mental health problems.

He was admitted to Wishaw General Hospital after drinking weed killer, but was discharged two days later after being examined by psychiatric nurses.

Miss Boyce told the inquest that her mother had asked the police to disclose Kennedy's details, which had not caused any problems.

She said her mother was told she had “picked a good one” after police said there were no concerns about him.

In a written statement to her lawyers, she said she had “never seen” Kennedy do anything “evil or cruel” to her mother.

Miss Boyce, from Glasgow, said: 'She just really wanted to help him, even if they couldn't be together.

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“My father wasn't very impressed that she met him in a psychiatric hospital. She came clean and it was said that she had chosen a good man.”

She added: “My mother was my rock. She had the biggest heart and wanted to help James Kennedy.

“She was a really good mother to me and simply the best.”

Sheriff Michael Higgins told both Louise and Emma that giving evidence in court would have been a “difficult process” and thanked them for doing so.

The public prosecutor's office had previously stated that the investigation would clarify what “reasonable precautions” could have been taken and could be implemented in the future to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.

In addition, the “care planning and inter-agency communication” prior to the killing will be examined.

The investigation will continue next month.

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