Missed Chances to Save British Bangladeshi Gran From Schizophrenic Grandson

Coroner demands answers as NHS trust admits failures in protecting East London British Bangladeshi family after Subell Ali killed grandmother two days post-release.

Subell Ali, 34, had been detained for nearly two years before being released into the community, yet no safety net was in place for his British Bangladeshi family—despite a history of violent threats that included stabbing people. Daily Dazzling Dawn has learned that the tragic case has now prompted a coroner to issue a stark warning over systemic NHS safeguarding failures.

The brutal killing of 80-year-old dementia sufferer Somtera Bibi by her grandson in her own home has exposed a catastrophic catalogue of “missed opportunities” by mental health services. Ali fatally stabbed his grandmother more than 20 times on April 2, 2022, after being released from a secure psychiatric unit just two days earlier. A jury at the Old Bailey ruled that Ali, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, committed the act. Due to his severe mental illness, he was deemed unfit to stand trial and has been detained indefinitely at a secure hospital since March 2023.

Local coroner Nadia Persaud has now issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report, raising severe concerns about the East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT). The investigation found that despite Ali's repeated threats of domestic and sexual abuse—including explicit threats to kill family members—no safeguarding measures or warning signs were communicated to his vulnerable relatives.

The failures extended to vital communication with the Metropolitan Police. Authorities had attempted to create a safety plan for the East London family, but the NHS trust completely failed to respond. This breakdown has led to a trust-wide directive clarifying expectations around urgent police liaison.

The court heard that after his release on March 31, 2022, Ali became preoccupied with a fearsome figure he called "Shahin Jahan," whom he claimed was ordering him to kill his grandmother. On the morning of the attack, his mother heard a "terrible scream" and found the victim in the living room. Ali, dressed in white and covered in his grandmother's blood, was apprehended at a bus stop 10 minutes later. The tragedy has deeply shocked the close-knit British Bangladeshi community in Manor Park, highlighting vulnerabilities faced by multi-generational households when mental health services fail to communicate critical risks to families.

This failure comes at a critical time for the trust, which is already under fire over a separate scandal involving the falsification of observation records. In another coroner's case, it emerged that staff at ELFT may have fabricated medical records for as many as 12 patients who died while in their care.

An investigation into the death of Mahamoud Ali (unrelated) revealed a nurse had documented observations she did not conduct. The trust has admitted to an increase in falsified records, raising the prospect that systemic failures are placing more lives at risk. ELFT has yet to produce evidence of robust internal investigations into these fatalities, telling the Romford Recorder it holds "no internal reports or investigations" into the fabrications.

The coroner has demanded that the East London NHS Foundation Trust implement a series of changes to prevent future tragedies. First, the trust must introduce mandatory safeguarding training so all staff are equipped to better recognise and mitigate immediate risks to families. Second, direct referral pathways to forensic psychiatric teams have been established to guarantee more detailed, expert risk assessments prior to patient discharges. Finally, staff are now required to conduct proactive home risk assessments to identify and eliminate immediate physical dangers in the household, such as temporarily locking away sharp objects.

While the trust has expressed its "deepest sympathies" and stated it is "committed to learning from shortcomings," the continued pattern of failures has led to growing calls from community leaders and legal experts for a full, independent public inquiry.