Man who fatally stabbed 82-year-old neighbour in delusional attack sent to hospital

A court in Derby has handed an indefinite hospital order to Julian Donoher, 51, who stabbed his neighbour Gerard Ring, 82, outside Ring's home on Whitecross Gardens on 6 September 2025. Ring died in hospital three days later.

Donoher held a delusional belief that Ring was a paedophile, a claim prosecutors said had no basis in truth. After the attack, he told neighbours he had "killed the paedophile." He also believed, falsely, that police had instructed him to "take out wrong 'uns" and that he had already killed 66 people.

While under arrest, Donoher behaved erratically. He had a prior history of offending, mostly involving dishonesty and minor violence, along with a history of drug use. Before the attack he had taken cocaine, amphetamines and the synthetic drug Mamba, which mental health reports found contributed to delusions primarily caused by his schizoaffective disorder. He had not taken his mental health medication for nine months before the attack.

At Derby Crown Court, Donoher pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and watched proceedings silently via video link. No mitigation was offered in his defence.

Ring, originally from Dublin, was a retired builder, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who had lived with incurable blood cancer for nearly a decade. His daughter Sapphire Greatorex described him as reliable, hardworking and generous, saying she spent much of her time caring for him so he could remain independent and enjoy his garden. Ring's eldest daughter, Tracey, told the court the attack was "vile, savage and inhumane."

Sentencing Donoher to the indefinite hospital order with restrictions, the judge said no price could be placed on a human life and that the order was necessary to protect the public from the danger he poses.