A UK man who strangled his grandmother to death before having sex with her corpse will remain in hospital for an indefinite period.
Donovan Miller, 31, choked his grandmother, Phyllis Grant, 76, and beat her over the head with a vase at their shared home in East London’s Plaistow area. He then had sex with her body multiple times.
Ms Grant, who had recently been released from hospital after recovering from COVID-19, has been described as a “matriarch of the community” and regular churchgoer by her neighbours.
Police arrived at the address at 10pm on March 25, 2021, following a call from Miller saying that he’d killed his grandmother the night before. He also told the paramedic on the night of his arrest: “I raped her as well for what it’s worth, yesterday and today.”
Miller told the police that he was cocaine-dependant, but had no mental health issues. He denied murder but admitted to manslaughter and sexual penetration of a corpse. Following the attack, three psychiatric reports were written; they came from three different experts who all agreed that Miller was suffering from “an abnormality of mind” at the time of the attack.
Dr John McAnallen, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, stated that Miller was likely to have been suffering from symptoms such as schizophrenia that were exacerbated by cocaine use. However, all of the doctors involved agreed that this was not a drug-induced psychosis.
The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft, QC, said: “From all that I have heard and read [Ms Grant] was greatly loved and admired by her many friends and family. It is said what you did to your grandmother will never rightly leave you. The events of March 24 were quite terrifying and appalling. I’m satisfied that assistance in treatment is key.”
