Concerned US gamer alerted police, trial told
AJURY heard how British police were alerted to the death of a Plymouth woman after an American gamer became suspicious of her son’s online behaviour.
The trial of Callum Thomas, accused of murdering his mother, Debra Cantrell, some time between May 5 and May 31 last year, has begun at Plymouth Crown Court.
Thomas, aged 33 and of no fixed abode, has denied the charge, but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
The trial heard from prosecutor Anna Vigars KC, who revealed that in the early hours of May 31 police were contacted by a computer gamer in the United States, who explained he had spent a considerable amount of time playing World War Two games online with Thomas and they would have conversations, forming a kind of friendship.
The jury heard Thomas would occasionally say things which made the gamer wonder about his mental health, such as that he heard “voices” and would not use YouTube or Google because he did not want people to have information about him.
The US gamer later told police Thomas appeared to show signs of paranoia and would talk about his relationship with his mother, claiming sometimes it was “tolerable” and other times it was “strained.” He also suggested Thomas had issues “with anger”.
The jury heard that on May 8, while in a hotel in Richmond, Virginia, the gamer received a message from Thomas that he had “done something bad”.
Later in May, a Canadian gamer who had also played with the pair online inquired about Thomas, saying they had not heard from him in a while. Concerned, the US gamer rang police in UK and told them about Thomas’s comments about a problem being “taken care of”.
Police attended the house in Colwill Road, Estover, a property they knew, as they had been called there dozens of times over the past decade due to incidents of domestic violence by Thomas on his 58-year-old mother.
They forced entry and found Ms Cantrell on her bed, with a stab wound to her chest and a pillow over her face. The jury were told it was obvious she had been dead “for quite some time”.
Anna Vigars KC explained that Thomas had endured a difficult life and from time to time would reside at his mother’s house, but that their relationship was volatile. Thomas was known to threaten and assault his mother.
Numerous police reports as far back as 2009 were read out, and Ms Vigars explained that on each occasion Thomas turned up and attacked her or damaged furniture. Ms Cantrell was reluctant to make a formal complaint and see her son charged, feeling it was better to “get on with things”, the court heard.
The jury heard that, in 2014, Thomas had assaulted his mother and held a knife to the family cat’s throat when he was drunk. He was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act and sectioned.
Ms Vigars said over the next few years this pattern was repeated, with police being called, Ms Cantrell not wanting him to be charged, but wanting him to get mental health help and “sometimes Thomas did receive help”.
By 2018, Thomas had become “more violent” towards his mother, but she continued to make it clear to police when they arrived that she did not want him to get into trouble. On one occasion, she revealed that he had held a knife to her throat while telling her he wanted her dead. In late 2018, police took the step of issuing a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO), banning him from her home for 28 days.
The jury heard how, in December 2019, he made threats to kill her. In January 2020, he was readmitted to rehabilitation in Luton and appeared to improve.
It was not until mid-2022 police were again called by Ms Cantrell. Again, the police issued a DVPO, banning him for 28 days.
Police prepared another order at the end of March 2023, after Ms Cantrell told them Thomas had been coming to her home again and making threats to kill her and asking her for money. When she refused to give him money, he bashed a door into her head, and she told police he “always” carried a knife with him in a sheath.
He told police he thought their relationship was fine, but he needed help with accommodation and his mental health.
The court was told that on April 26, 2023, Thomas was seen by a mental health nurse, when he revealed he was living in a tent in the woods with his dog. He said he was not hearing voices, but was struggling with his memory, unable to be sure which memories were real and which were not.
He claimed his mother was an alcoholic and had been abusive to him when he was growing up.
The trial continues.
‘The jury heard Thomas would occasionally say things which made the gamer wonder about his mental health’