Mental health professionals have come under fire from the daughter of a 71-year-old Gravesend man stabbed to death by his schizophrenic son.

Tony Wotton, 49, killed his father Terry with a kitchen knife at the family's home in Mackenzie Way on September 12, 2011.

He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in June 2012 after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Following an inquest which ended yesterday (October 1) North West Kent Coroner Roger Hatch recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

It was also found Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) could have done more to protect Terry.

Daughter Diane Ludlow, 52, speaking after the inquest, said: "If my dad was here today he would be saying: 'Why did you not look after my son and stop this from happening? My son was in your professional care and you failed him.’

"My dad knew the day would come when my brother would murder him. 

"He voiced his concerns to family and friends for years stating, and I quote: 'Nothing will ever get done until something happens to me'."

A domestic homicide review, published after the inquest, said there had been many incidents when Tony was violent to his father, several involving a knife.

It found these incidents usually coincided with periods when Tony refused to take his medication.

It said: "In August 2011 (Tony) started to refuse his medication and despite an increased input from mental health professionals he continued to refuse to take it.

"As a result of concerns by his family and the mental health professionals involved in his care, a decision was made to assess (Tony) to see if he should be admitted to hospital.

"The assessment took place on September 12, 2011 and it concluded that he was not detainable. 

"Around 10.30pm the same day, (Tony) took a knife from the kitchen and fatally stabbed his father several times."

The review added: "There was no safeguarding measure in place to protect the family or indeed an increasingly vulnerable patient."

It concluded the KMPT "could have done more to reduce the risk that (Tony) presented, especially to his father.

"There was more that could have been done in terms of risk identification, putting strategies into place to manage that risk, as well as some of their responses to specific events."

It added: "On the day of the homicide the team carrying out the assessment did not appear to consider the escalation of risk of harm and were too optimistic (Tony) would comply."

The review stated that as a result of the case a series of measures are being put into action by KMPT and Kent County Council.

But Ms Ludlow said: "No one within the KMPT ever listened to the family, the very people that had to live with him, care for him, the people who knew him the most.

"Yes my brother had, and has, his rights but so do we have rights that were never taken into consideration.

"No-one ever asked the family what we felt about his care and my parents thoughts and process of looking after him. Especially my dad, the one who was always on the receiving end of Tony when he did not take his medication."