Drumnadrochit man who killed his mother detained at psychiatric hospital after appearing at High Court in Edinburgh

Neil Carmichael (34) attacked Morag Carmichael on December 7 last year at the family home in Drumnadrochit.

The 66-year-old, who ran a donkey sanctuary, sustained six knife wounds as well as suffering fractures to her skull and neck.

She was struck with ornaments, a baseball bat, saucepan and knives before Carmichael later told his father Kenneth that she was dead.

Carmichael was charged with murdering his mother but was acquitted after the Crown accepted he was not criminally responsible at the time because of a mental disorder.

He had moved back to his parents’ home after living in Aberdeen and Glasgow. He lost his job as a kitchen porter during the pandemic.

His mood was “up and down” and his parents had urged him to see a doctor.

When his father returned home Carmichael told him his mother was dead. The father found her under a rug just outside the back of the house.

A judge was told that Carmichael had been known to take drugs, including cannabis and Valium, since he was a teenager.

Lord Doherty sitting at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday ruled that Carmichael, who is at the State Hospital at Carstairs, should be under both compulsion and restriction orders.

He said he was satisfied on the basis of all the evidence before him and in particular that provided by a consultant forensic psychiatrist that he should make the orders recommended.

The court heard that Carmichael would require substantial management and oversight to ensure he did not return to drug use.

The court heard that Carmichael suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and will require ongoing treatment for many years. He was required to be detained in conditions of special security that can only be provided at the State Hospital.