Epileptic student stabbed stepdad to death in his own bed after suffering ‘cluster of seizures’
A STUDENT with epilepsy stabbed his stepdad to death after suffering a “cluster of seizures”.
Ben Moglione grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed 64-year-old Andy McDiarmid 17 times as he isolated from Covid.
The 23-year-old’s mum Alison Moglione was washing her hair when she heard an “unusual sound” coming from the bedroom.
Her son then burst in with his hands covered in blood as Alison found her husband laying gravely injured in bed.
Moglione has now been handed an indefinite hospital order after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the student was suffering from postictal psychosis, which occurred following a cluster of seizures.
In a victim impact statement, Alison told of the “indescribable pain and suffering” the family felt following retired detective inspector Andy’s death.
The mum also begged a judge to “return my son to me” as she revealed how the case was a “medical negligence” one rather than criminal.
She added: “It’s difficult to comprehend how this has happened to such a loyal, loving family man. I’m still no clearer why this tragedy happened.
“I’m left without the one person I want to grow old with and who made my life complete. My husband has lost the retirement he worked so hard to enjoy, having served the community and been an incredible husband, stepfather and family man.
“I know he would want to get to the bottom of why this happened. I will never rest until this is dealt with openly and fully transparently.”
The court was told the horror unfolded on January 24, 2022, after Moglione watched a BBC ‘s Panorama about knife crime.
At around 8pm, he told his mum he was going to take his medication before going to bed as Andy recovered from Covid in his bedroom.
Internal CCTV showed Moglione walking downstairs in his dressing gown and slippers before picking up a kitchen knife.
He then returned upstairs and entered his mum and stepdad’s room, where “screams, groans and heavy breathing” were heard on the footage.
Moglione later entered the bathroom where his mum was before CCTV showed her walking downstairs in a towel followed by her son.
Alison recalled: “He said, ‘You can start again’. He said it in a strange way. I thought, ‘Oh my God’.
“I started running to my bedroom and I saw Andy on our bed. There was blood and I could tell by his face that he had gone.
“I knew I could not do anything so I ran downstairs. I dialled 999 for an ambulance and the police. In the meantime, Ben came down saying, ‘Mum don’t ring the police’.”
The mum rang 999, with Moglione arrested and taken to Clock View Hospital where he has remained ever since.
Alison told police: “To me, at that point [Moglione] was not there. When it was over, the episode, he was not there. He wasn’t conversing. He hadn’t done it in a sane mind. It wasn’t my son who was doing that.
“He was very, very ill. He hasn’t premeditated that. He was in a seizure state. I don’t know if he’s had a seizure, but that was not my son. That was not my normal son.
“This is a lovely young man who’s never harmed a fly. How would we see this coming? It’s a tragedy. I’ve lost my son and I’ve lost my husband. This position is like a nightmare. I need to wake up, but it’s real.”
A post mortem found Andy had suffered 17 wounds to his body – including 13 knife injuries and some “incised wounds” – that had been inflicted with “severe force”.
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “You are clearly an intelligent young man. There is no evidence to suggest that the relationship between the two of you was anything other than entirely positive.
“It seems that your epilepsy was not well controlled. By the time of the fatal attack, you were suffering clusters of seizures and a treatment regime that was not working.
“The prosecution is now satisfied that the evidence demonstrates that your ability to understand the nature of your conduct, to form a rational judgement or exercise self control was substantially impaired.
“If that were not the case, you would have continued to face a count of murder.”