How Could You? Hall of Shame-David McCourt UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Glasgow, Scotland, a 13-year-old boy stabbed his foster mother Dawn McKenzie,34, to death on June 24, 2011.
On Friday June 22, 2012, the boy pled guilty to a “reduced charge of culpable homicide was accepted by the Crown on the grounds of diminished responsibility.”
“The High Court in Glasgow heard that in the days leading up to the killing the boy had had his X-box, mobile phone and laptop taken off him. A number of psychiatrists who examined the boy said he was not able to control his behaviour at the time.
Mrs McKenzie was stabbed ten times on the head and body. The fatal blow severed a major blood vessel and caused her to bleed to death. She was also stabbed twice in the scalp and the force of one of these blows was so great that the tip of the blade broke off and embedded itself in her skull. The defensive injuries she received showed that she had fought for her life. After the boy fled Mrs McKenzie managed to dial 999 and tell police who had stabbed her.”
“The court heard that it was an ordinary Friday night, with Mr McKenzie and the boy driving Mrs McKenzie to the supermarket and then going for a drive before picking her up again.
Mr Prentice added: “The accused had a circle of friends and a keen interest in football and is described by his friends as quiet and likable.”
“The court heard that it was the last day of school and instead of coming home at the agreed time he went swimming and then on to a McDonald’s restaurant with friends.
Mr Prentice said: “He did this without permission and was told that trust was an important issue. He was grounded and told he had to go to bed an hour earlier as punishment.”
The laptop and phone given to him by his mother, and which he used to keep in contact with her, had been confiscated days earlier. Mr McKenzie said the boy did not seem particularly perturbed about this.
Mr McKenzie left the house about 7pm or 7.15pm and went to his brother-in-law’s house to watch a film. He says there was no animosity between Mrs McKenzie and the boy or he would not have left the flat. He kissed his wife goodbye and ruffled the boy’s hair as he left and said: “See you later wee man.”
That was the last time he saw his wife alive. She and the boy were both sitting watching TV. At 8.06pm a 999 call was received from Mrs McKenzie who said she had been stabbed. In the 999 tape she can be heard shouting “Mum” and “Help, help,” and “Mam, am I dying.”
When police arrived on the scene, one officer asked Mrs McKenzie who had stabbed her. She said it was the boy. The boy was stopped by a police officer at 8.25pm on Wellhall Road in Hamilton.
The officer asked the boy: “What’s wrong with you wee man, you’re shaking?” and he replied: “I’ve just stabbed my foster carer.”
He then said he had done it with a knife and told the police officer it was still in the house at Deveron Crescent, Hamilton. When interviewed by police the boy admitted stabbing Mrs McKenzie on one occasion. When he was charged with murder he said: “I only stabbed her once.”
A post-mortem examination revealed that the wound to her stomach damaged the small bowel and cut through one of the main blood vessels and she died from massive loss of blood. She also suffered a number of defensive injuries to her arms and left hand.
The tip of the knife was found under the skin at the top of her head. The pathologist said that the wounds in the scalp which damaged the skull would have required considerable force, particularly the wound from which the tip of the knife was recovered. Judge Lord Pentland was shown the knife that killed Dawn and also the broken off tip.
Well regarded
The court heard that Mrs McKenzie trained as a nursery nurse and after spending some time in London working as a nanny returned to Scotland and married her husband Bryan in 2000. She worked as a nursery nurse after her marriage and was well-regarded in the child care field.
The court heard that the boy told one psychiatrist that he had been grounded and said the McKenzies were angry with him for coming home late without asking permission. He said they had also removed the mobile phone and laptop given to him by his natural mother so that he could keep in contact with her.
The court heard that these items were removed from the boy on the advice of the social work department. He told other psychiatrists that he had heard voices and claimed that during the knife attack he seemed to be watching himself from above.
Lord Pentland was handed victim impact statements from Mr McKenzie and his wife’s mother. The judge said: “I shall read these documents carefully before I came to impose sentence in this case.”
Sentence was deferred on the boy, who was represented by QC Donald Findlay, until August for background reports and an assessment of the danger he poses to the public.”
[STV 6/22/12]
REFORM Puzzle Pieces
Update: “A fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances of the death of a foster mother is to be held in April.
Dawn McKenzie, 34, was repeatedly stabbed by a 13-year-old boy at a house in Hamilton in June 2011 after he was grounded.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with murder, although his guilty plea to culpable homicide was accepted and he was sentenced to seven years detention.
In October 2013 a significant case review commissioned by Glasgow child protection committee found that Mrs McKenzie’s death could not have been foreseen or prevented.
However, a preliminary hearing is scheduled to be heard on April 29 with a fatal accident inquiry due to start on September 17.
The High Court in Glasgow heard that in the days leading up to the killing the boy had had his X-box, mobile phone and laptop taken off him. A number of psychiatrists who examined the boy said he was not able to control his behaviour at the time.
Mrs McKenzie was stabbed ten times on the head and body. The fatal blow severed a major blood vessel and caused her to bleed to death. She was also stabbed twice in the scalp and the force of one of these blows was so great that the tip of the blade broke off and embedded itself in her skull.
The defensive injuries she received showed that she had fought for her life. After the boy fled Mrs McKenzie managed to dial 999 and tell police who had stabbed her.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, said at the time: “The accused and her husband Bryan treated the accused as their own. They were all due to go on holiday abroad together. It would appear that there was nothing remarkable about his behaviour in the lead up to this offence.”
In October 2013 a significant case review commissioned by Glasgow child protection committee found that Mrs McKenzie’s death could not have been foreseen or prevented.
But the nine-member review team also concluded that shortages in staffing and resources affected the care of the boy, referred to as D in the report.
There was evidence that a Glasgow City social worker did not visit the teenager until he had been in his final placement for two months.”
Inquiry into death of foster mother stabbed by boy to be held[STV 3/31/14]
Update 2:”A woman who was killed by her 13-year-old foster child had been left “high and dry” by the social work department, her husband has told an inquiry.
Dawn McKenzie, 34, was stabbed by the teenager in her home in Hamilton in 2011.
The boy was detained for seven years after admitting culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry is being held into the circumstances of the case.
Mrs McKenzie and her husband Bryan, 40, who did not have children of their own, began looking into fostering in 2010 after she saw a newspaper advert and told her husband it was something she was interested in.
She had previously worked at a private nursery in East Kilbride and had been promoted to deputy manager before applying to become a foster carer.
‘New challenge’
Mr McKenzie, a joiner, told the inquiry in Motherwell: “She felt she had a lot more to give. She had really taken herself as far as she could as a nursery nurse.
“She had a real affinity with kids and she wanted to help. This was the logical next step for her and I was supportive of her.”
Mr McKenzie said of their decision to foster: “We saw it as a new challenge for both of us.”
He said they were initially delighted to have been approved as foster carers in October 2010 and within weeks they were asked to take the boy as their first placement.
However, the inquiry heard that the transition was handled badly due to the haste with which the boy’s previous placement ended, as well as travel chaos caused by 2010’s severe winter weather and the boy’s social worker going on annual leave.
The boy was previously placed with his two sisters but this ended abruptly after the carer’s father became ill, and he was separated from his sisters and sent to live with the McKenzies.
Mr McKenzie told how the boy was quiet at first but seemed normal given his circumstances, and Mrs McKenzie described him as a “lovely boy” in early reports.
But he later emerged to be “a compulsive liar, telling lots of tall tales”, Mr McKenzie said.
A handover booklet from the previous carer revealed how he used to eat with his hands but the booklet said he had improved.
Mr McKenzie said: “That wasn’t very accurate as he still didn’t know how to use a knife and fork.”
‘Absolutely ridiculous’
He said if they had known more about the boy’s background they would have still have taken the placement, but would have been “more cautious and better armed”.
A note from the boy’s supervision record, read out at the inquiry, stated: “Dawn and Bryan had just been approved as carers and have taken (the boy) as placement at short notice.
“Due to the ending of his placement with another FCA carer the decision to move (the boy) was taken with such expediency due to the other carer’s circumstances, and therefore was not managed as well as it could have been with little planning or preparation for (the boy).
“Dawn was advised that this is not what FCA would have wished to take place. However, given the circumstances, this is what we now have to deal with.”
Mr McKenzie said: “Reading it back, it’s absolutely ridiculous. ‘He’s not here, she’s not here’. How is anything supposed to get done if that is the carry-on?
“It’s a joke. We were left high and dry, basically. It’s ridiculous.
“I was back at my work after two days. The weather wasn’t that extreme.”
The inquiry heard that the couple had been keen to foster one or two children up to 16 years of age as Mrs McKenzie was keen to work with school-age children to extend her experience.
The pair under went extensive checks on their background, health, finances and home safety.
A feedback form from a training course stated that Mrs McKenzie showed “excellent knowledge and understanding” and a reference from her employer described her as an “excellent child practitioner”.
Fiscal depute Carrie Macfarlane asked Mr McKenzie about a reference in the documents to the appropriate storage of kitchenware and where they kept their kitchen knives.
He said they were stored in a drawer with a child-proof lock on it.”
Foster carer killing: Inquiry opens into Dawn McKenzie death[BBC 2/16/15 ]
“A fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances of her death heard that Mrs McKenzie decided to look into becoming a foster carer after years working as a nursery nurse.
Mr McKenzie, 40, told the inquiry in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire: “She was a very sweet, kind girl, very caring. She was a strong person as well, very determined and very hard-working.”
The couple, who did not have children of their own, began looking into fostering in 2010 after Mrs McKenzie saw a newspaper advert and told her husband it was something she was interested in.
They made inquiries with Foster Care Associates and undertook a training course and assessments, the inquiry before sheriff David Bicket at the GLO Centre was told.
Mr McKenzie, a joiner, said: “She felt she had a lot more to give. She had really taken herself as far as she could as a nursery nurse.
“She had a real affinity with kids and she wanted to help. This was the logical next step for her and I was supportive of her.”
The boy was detained for seven years after admitting culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Day one of the inquiry heard the McKenzies lived in a two-bedroom flat in Hamilton and had been married for almost 11 years when Mrs McKenzie was killed on June 24, 2011.
She had previously worked at a private nursery in East Kilbride and had been promoted to deputy manager before applying to become a foster carer.
She enjoyed cooking, music and spending time with her family, the inquiry heard.
Mr McKenzie said of their decision to foster: “We saw it as a new challenge for both of us.”
Procurator fiscal depute Carrie Macfarlane showed the inquiry documents relating to the application, training and vetting process.
A feedback form from a training course stated that Mrs McKenzie showed “excellent knowledge and understanding” and a reference from her employer described her as an “excellent child practitioner”.
The inquiry heard that the couple were keen to foster one or two children up to 16 years of age.
Mr McKenzie said his wife was keen to work with school-age children to extend her experience.
The pair underwent extensive checks on their background, health, finances and home safety.
Ms Macfarlane asked Mr McKenzie about a reference in the documents to the appropriate storage of kitchenware and where they kept their kitchen knives.
He said they were stored in a drawer with a child-proof lock on it.”
Woman stabbed to death by her foster child ‘wanted to help kids’[STV 2/16/15]
Update 3: “THE parents of a teenage boy who killed his foster mother had threatened the lives of his previous carers and social workers, an inquiry has heard.
The family of the boy who stabbed Dawn McKenzie to death had warned foster carers that they would turn up at their home with guns.
Social workers who took the boy into care were also told that they and their families would be murdered if he was not returned to his birth mother.
Eileen Lever, a social worker at fostering agency Foster Care Associates, told how she had given Dawn and her husband Bryan detailed information about the boy’s family background before they agreed to foster him.
The boy had lived with another family before he was placed with Dawn in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, in November 2010. He killed Dawn in June 2011 at her home when he was just 13-years-old.
The boy was jailed for seven years in 2012 after being found guilty of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Under questioning at a fatal accident inquiry into Mrs McKenzie’s death, Mrs Lever said: “This was going to be Dawn and Bryan’s first placement and I wanted to go out and meet them to have a proper discussion with them.
“I spent a considerable amount of time talking about his background and history and why he had been brought into care.
“I talked about his previous foster carers and how his family had made it difficult for them. The parents had threatened to come to their address.
“The parents’ behaviour towards the local authority social work department had led to social workers being changed.”
One of the boy’s previous foster carers had earlier told how she was forced to give up looking after him after being intimidated by his birth family.
She said: “There were threats made to us and our daughter. There was talk about guns and talk about ‘we know where you are’, that sort of thing.”
Mr McKenzie had earlier told the inquiry they should have been given more information about the boy’s background.
However, Mrs Lever insisted she had given them enough information and said they were under no pressure to take the placement.
She added: “I talked quite a lot about how he had been subject to chronic neglect.
“That included where he lived and that the family were known to be taking drugs in the house and were unable to look after them properly.
“I gave them a lot of information to the extent that I thought they might say ‘why would we take this placement’ but I wanted to give them a full picture.”
Mrs Lever also told how the boy had once been chased with knives by a group of boys during a previous foster placement.
Mr McKenzie said if they had known more about the boy’s background they would have still have taken the placement, but would have been ‘more cautious and better armed’.
He said they only received a background report about two months after the placement started, when it emerged that when he was taken into care the boy had been sleeping on a trampoline, had no shoes, was living in a house frequented by drug addicts and had been subjected to “frequent acts of violence”.
The inquiry, which is being held in Motherwell before Sheriff David Bicket, continues.”
Parents of boy who stabbed his foster mother to death threatened to kill his previous carers, FAI hears[Herald Scotland 3/28/15 by Stuart Mac Donald]
Update 4:“A SHERIFF has been urged to rule that a teenager who stabbed his foster mother to death should never have been placed in her care.
Dawn McKenzie, 34, was killed in her home in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, in June 2011 by a 13-year-old boy placed with her and her husband Bryan.
The boy later told how voices in his head told him to get a knife from the kitchen drawer of the house and “hurt Dawn”.
He was jailed for seven years in 2012 after admitting culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The final day of a fatal accident inquiry into Mrs McKenzie’s death yesterday heard closing submissions from Crown Office procurator fiscal depute Carrie Macfarlane.
She asked Sheriff David Bicket to find that Mrs McKenzie did not have enough experience and had not been given sufficient training to deal with the boy.
She also said a blanket age range approval system operated by the fostering agency which the McKenzies dealt with had contributed to the victim’s death.
The former nursery worker had expressed a preference for a younger child but was approved to foster children up to the age of 16.
Miss Macfarlane told a hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court: “It would only be proper for the Crown to offer its most sincere condolences to the family of Dawn MacKenzie.
“I will summarise what the Crown wishes you to make formal findings on following the evidence.
“We wish you make formal findings on the decision to place the child with the family.
“The Crown wishes you to make findings into the suitability to place an adolescent child with a family who did not have suitable experience with children of that age and whether they should have been recommended to take the placement.”
She added: “We ask you to find that the blanket age range approval system that was in place was a defective system which attributed to the death of Dawn MacKenzie.
“There are issues which have been raised which you may want to cover and these include the support offered to foster carers and the management of social media throughout placements.
“I formally thank the witnesses for their assistance and to the other parties involved for their cooperation throughout this inquiry.”
Kirstie MacLean, a senior social worker who produced an expert report into the case for the inquiry, earlier said the agency Foster Care Associates should not have sent the boy to the McKenzies because of his age and background.
The couple were first-time foster carers and did not have any children of their own.
The inquiry had earlier heard that the boy had been grounded and had his computer confiscated in the days leading up to the killing after it was discovered he had been in contact with his birth mother online.
Sheriff Bicket expressed his sympathy to Mrs McKenzie’s family before closing the inquiry to consider his determination.
He said: “I realise a fatal accident inquiry is a harrowing experience for those who have suffered a bereavement and I express my sympathy to the family.
“I have carried out a number of these inquiries over the years and I can honestly say nobody had a bad word to say about Dawn MacKenzie and I hope that is of some comfort to you.
“I will issue my determination in writing, I will try and be as quick as I can but this requires a great deal of consideration.””
Sheriff urged to rule teenager who killed foster carer should not have been placed in her care [Herald Scotland 6/30/15]
Update 5: “The death of a woman killed by her 13-year-old foster child might have been avoided if their fostering agency had taken account of her and her husband’s inexperience as parents, an inquiry has concluded.
Dawn McKenzie, 34, was stabbed by the teenager she and her husband, Bryan, were looking after at their home in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in June 2011.
The boy, who for legal reasons is referred to only as child D, was detained for seven years in 2012 after admitting culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
A fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances of McKenzie’s death was held earlier this year before Sheriff David Bicket in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.
He concluded that her death might have been avoided had Foster Care Associates Scotland (FCAS), an independent fostering agency which arranged placements at the request of Glasgow city council, “taken proper account” of the couple’s lack of experience as foster carers.
The inquiry was told that McKenzie had applied to FCAS after seeing a newspaper advertisement.
She and her husband had expressed a preference to foster children aged between one and eight but the older boy, who had a troubled background, was placed with them in November 2010.
The sheriff found there were “no defects in a system of working” which contributed to McKenzie’s death. He said: “From all the evidence that I heard no one could have predicted that child D would have acted in the way in which he did, and no one could have predicted the tragic consequences for a dedicated and caring foster carer such as Dawn McKenzie.
“It is clear that both GCC and FCAS take their responsibilities extremely seriously and they have taken on board changes needed to practice and to promote the safety of foster carers and children in care.”
But he emphasised that the McKenzies were new foster carers embarking on their first placement who had no children of their own and only limited experience in caring for Mrs McKenzie’s nephew.
He said: “The death of Mrs McKenzie might have been avoided if Foster Care Associates Scotland, when considering if they had a suitable placement for child D when so requested to do so by Glasgow City Council, had taken proper account of Mr and Mrs McKenzie’s status as new carers, and lack of suitable prior experience of adolescent aged children such as child D and accordingly had not recommended them as suitable prospective carers for child D.”
The inquiry was told that in the days before she died, McKenzie had confiscated the boy’s laptop and mobile phone after discovering he was having unsupervised Facebook contact with his mother.
On the day of the attack the boy had been grounded after failing to return home from school on time. Mr McKenzie had left the house to spend the evening with his brother-in-law when his wife was stabbed 10 times, including a fatal wound to the abdomen.
A significant case review commissioned by Glasgow child protection committee found in 2013 that McKenzie’s death could not have been foreseen or prevented. However, the nine-member review team also concluded that shortages in staffing and resources affected the care of the boy in question.”
Death of woman killed by her foster child ‘may have been avoided’ [The Guardian 8/12/15]
Update 6: The finally name him: David Mc Court. Unfortunately, he is free now.
“A TEENAGER who brutally stabbed his foster mum to death when he was 13 has been freed early after less than five years.
Victim Dawn McKenzie’s family are horrified by David McCourt’s release. He had served two-thirds of his seven-year sentence.
One of Dawn’s relatives said: “There’s no way he is safe to be out in the community.
“This is a boy who had a difficult upbringing. But his crime was so violent and so devastating that he should have spent longer behind bars.
“There is no justice here.”
McCourt killed Dawn after she confiscated his laptop.
The family member asked: “If he was capable of snapping because his computer had been taken away from him for a few days, who’s to say he won’t do it again?”
The relative said McCourt had a record of “violence, running with gangs and unpredictability”.
And they asked: “How can the public feel they can be safe?
“This is a glaring case of a danger being presented to the community, wherever he is released to.”
McCourt, now 17, was freed at the end of last month. He is under a five-year supervision order, to be administered through Glasgow City Council.
The teenager stabbed Dawn, 34, 10 times with a kitchen knife in a frenzied attack at her home in Hamilton on the evening of June 24, 2011.
Dawn’s family were stunned in 2012 when he was sentenced to just seven years’ detention.
Her father-in-law Tom shouted at judge Lord Pentland: “I beg your pardon my Lord. That’s not justice. We lost our lovely girl to a monster.”
The court heard how McCourt snapped after Dawn and husband Bryan took away his laptop, phone and X-Box – following a discussion with social workers – because he had gone behind their backs and contacted his birth mother on Facebook.
Psychologists believed such contact was damaging for him.
Dawn and Bryan had also grounded McCourt and told him he would have to go to bed half an hour early for
going swimming without their permission.
Enraged, McCourt waited until joiner Bryan went out then went to the kitchen, got a knife and attacked Dawn.
He stabbed her in the head and abdomen. The assault was so ferocious that the tip of the knife lodged under her scalp.
The fatal blow severed a main artery in her abdomen and she bled to death.
Dawn died in hospital soon after. Defensive injuries on her arms and left hand showed she had fought
for her life.
A pathologist said it would have taken considerable force to inflict wounds found on her skull.
McCourt was the first child in Scotland ever to kill his foster carer.
He was charged with murder.
But prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the lesser crime of culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility after hearing he had a mental disorder at the time.
Donald Findlay QC, defending, said physical abuse by his natural parents had prevented McCourt from learning to tell right from wrong.
He added that psychiatrists agreed that McCourt killed Dawn while suffering from a mental condition known as a dissociative state, which meant he could not properly distinguish reality from fiction.
He could not react normally to the decision to ground him and he could not fully explain why he had killed Dawn.
Findlay told the court: “He comes from a background of neglect, squalid conditions, physical abuse. If this is what the child grows up with, it is what the child thinks is normal.
“If there is no discipline, that’s what the child thinks is normal.”
Sentencing, Lord Pentland said former nursery worker Dawn was “an admirable person” who had dedicated much of her life to the welfare of children.
He stressed that Dawn and Bryan had believed they were acting in McCourt’s best interests when they confiscated his gadgets and grounded him.
The judge told McCourt he had killed Dawn in a vicious attack “involving a high degree of violence”. He added: “It involved the repeated use of a knife and the victim was your foster mother, who had done you no wrong whatsoever.”
A risk assessment had also shown McCourt was highly likely to reoffend.
But Lord Pentland said there were mitigating circumstances, including McCourt’s “youth and immaturity”.
He went on: “One must take account of your unsettled and deprived background and the resultant emotional and psychological damage you
have suffered. I must have regard also to the psychiatric evidence about your mental state.”
Dawn’s mum Ray was horrified by the sentence. She said at the time: “We trusted the system and he got seven years. How am I supposed to cope with that?”
Sister Gail Findlay added: “I was disgusted and outraged. He is a danger to the public.”
Prosecutors refused the family’s plea to appeal the sentence.
A spokesman for the Parole Board of Scotland said he could not discuss individual cases.
He said any offender jailed for more than four years could be considered for parole after half their sentence. If they were
not freed then, they could be released at their “earliest date of liberation”, two thirds of the way through the sentence.
The board tell the families of serious crime victims when offenders are being freed.”
Teenager who brutally stabbed his foster mum to death when he was 13 is freed early after less than five years [Brief Report 3/18/16 by Mark McGivern]
do we not believe in rehabilitation, where an offending child is shown compassion and boundaries, where they are incarcerated and allowed to enjoy education, and a more normal life, where they achieve qualificaions, and gain respect for themselves, and their peers, after five years can a vulnerable young man not learn from his very grevious and tragic behaviours which lead to a young woman’s death?