Supreme Court rules Schizophrenic who killed pensioners cannot sue authorities for damages
Alexander Lewis-Ranwell was in 2019 found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of three men
Last updated 21st Jan 2026
A schizophrenic who killed three pensioners cannot sue authorities over allegations he faced negligent treatment before the attacks, the Supreme Court has ruled.
Alexander Lewis-Ranwell was in 2019 found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of Anthony Payne, 80, and 84-year-old twins Dick and Roger Carter in February that year, with a judge giving him a hospital order with restrictions.
The killings in Exeter, Devon, came just hours after Lewis-Ranwell had been released from custody for attacking an elderly farmer with a saw.
In 2020, Lewis-Ranwell, who is now 34, sued Devon & Cornwall Police, G4S Health Services (UK), Devon Partnership NHS Trust and Devon County Council, claiming all four were negligent in their treatment of him by failing to provide adequate care and releasing him back into the community before the attacks.
The latter three organisations claimed the cases should be thrown out based on the "doctrine of illegality", arguing that Lewis-Ranwell should not receive damages for the consequences of the killings.
The High Court and Court of Appeal ruled in 2022 and 2024, respectively, that the claim could continue, but the three bodies told the UK's highest court in July that it should not be allowed to proceed.
On Wednesday, five Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled that Lewis-Ranwell was barred from suing the authorities for damages, finding that the "denial of the claim would not be a disproportionate response" to his illegality.
In a ruling backed by Lord Reed, Lady Rose and Lady Simler, Lords Hodge and Lloyd-Jones said that the killings were "unlawful conduct for the purposes of engaging the illegality defence".
They said: "Killing another human being without lawful justification breaches a fundamental moral rule in our society, you shall not kill.
"This is so even when the person who has killed bears no criminal responsibility for his actions."
They continued: "His lawful detention, which the court has authorised by the hospital order and restriction order, is the consequence of those actions."
The justices said that Lewis-Ranwell was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his mid-20s.
He was arrested on February 8 2019 on suspicion of burglary at a farm in Barnstaple, and was bailed the next morning.
Later that day, he was arrested for causing grievous bodily harm to an elderly man and was bailed again on February 10.
The justices continued that during both periods in custody, Lewis-Ranwell behaved "violently and erratically and was apparently mentally very unwell".
He was seen by G4S and NHS staff, and despite a face-to-face mental health assessment being discussed, it was not arranged.
Lewis-Ranwell killed the three men while on bail for a second time, before his arrest on February 11.
In a majority ruling in February 2024, two Court of Appeal judges upheld the High Court's decision that the claims could continue.
Lord Justice Underhill, with whom Dame Victoria Sharp agreed, stated that "someone who was indeed insane should not be debarred from compensation for the consequences of their doing an unlawful act which they did not know was wrong and for which they therefore had no moral culpability".
But the Supreme Court disagreed, with Lords Hodge and Lloyd-Jones stating the Court of Appeal "places too much weight on the absence of moral culpability".
The inquests of Mr Payne, Dick Carter and Roger Carter are yet to take place, having been postponed earlier this month.