Grindr killer victim’s mum slams ‘secret’ hospital move after two hours’ jail

A mum has told of her shock after her son's Grindr killer was "secretly" moved from prison to a mental hospital.

Brian Healless, 20, was sentenced for life after luring 18-year-old Alex Davies to a beauty spot and stabbing him 128 times.

A judge branded him "manipulative" and "devious" after he met other men through the gay dating app after the killing in April 2019.

He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum 24 years in jail after jurors rejected his partial mental health defence last March at Preston Crown Court.

But Healless, of Chorley, spent just two hours in jail before being moved to a medium secure psychiatric hospital.

His victim's mother, Beverley Davies, 56, she was "shocked" to learn weeks later of the same day transfer.

She said: "We feel justice has not been served on a sadistic murderer and a potential serial killer who should never be released into society.

"I was told he was off to prison and it was only weeks after, when the Probation Service got in contact with me, and I was told he was only in prison for the two hours and then he was swept back to Guild Lodge.

"The intentions of the judge in his sentencing remarks have been subverted."

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She believes Healless is feigning illness but if deemed unwell is questioning why he is being treated at Guild Lodge.

Officials approved the transfer after four independent psychiatrists confirmed Healless continued to suffer from a mental disorder which requires hospital treatment, correspondence to Mrs Davies shows.

Julian Hendy, from the Hundred Families charity, said: "The court decided that Brian Healless needed punishment in prison rather than treatment as a patient in hospital for his terrible crime.

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"That decision has now been overturned, not by the justice system in open court but by doctors deciding in secret.

"There are surely serious questions to be asked about the decision to transfer him so quickly from prison to hospital, and whether justice has been truly served."

Alex Chalk MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, said it was "not usual but by no means unprecedented" and "did not in any way subvert the life sentence he [the judge] had passed".

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A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We have listened to Mrs Davies' concerns and apologised for the fact she was not updated promptly.

"Prisoners may be transferred for treatment in mental health hospitals, based on assessments by expert clinicians, but will return to serve their sentence in prison once they are fit to do so."

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