Student who killed his grandmother in house fire is sentenced to hospital order

Chanatorn Croghan, 21, appeared to spiral out of control in his first term at Manchester University and left his course.

Vera Croghan, 89, who died in a house fire started by her grandson Chanatorn Croghan (Family handout/ PA) (PA Media)

A student who killed his grandmother by setting fire to her house within days of dropping out of university has been sentenced to be detained in a mental health hospital.

Chanatorn Croghan, 21, appeared to spiral out of control in his first term at Manchester University and left his course, prosecutor William Carter told Norwich Crown Court.

The defendant turned up unannounced at his 89-year-old grandmother Vera Croghan’s house in Norwich, where his father Richard Croghan was also living, at around 9pm on December 9 2020, the barrister said.

He largely stayed in his bedroom but went to his father’s room at around 11pm on December 10, with his father feeling threatened and calling police.

Fellow students at Manchester describe his behaviour from the outset as being strange and unsettling

William Carter

Three officers attended just after midnight and advised Richard Croghan that if he wanted his son to leave the house he should tell him in the morning, Mr Carter said.

“They took the view if the defendant was evicted that night because of his mental health difficulties he would be classified as a high-risk missing person,” he said.

Richard Croghan felt “uncomfortable” and went to stay at his female friend’s house, leaving at 1am, after she suggested “Chanatorn regarded his father as being the threat”.

Richard Croghan had switched his phone off, and when he switched it back on at 8am on December 11 it showed the smoke alarm had been activated at 4.50am, Mr Carter said.

The prosecution counsel said emergency services were already there as a passer-by dialled 999, and university lecturer Vera Croghan died from inhalation of fire fumes.

He said an investigation found a fire had been set in a cupboard under the stairs, with no accelerant used, and Richard Croghan’s bank card was missing.

“It was used shortly before 9am to make an online purchase then at 3.20pm it was used at a local shop, plainly by this defendant,” said Mr Carter.

Croghan, of Northside in Norwich, was arrested approaching his grandmother’s house at around 3.30pm.

He admitted at an earlier hearing to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and arson, which were accepted by the prosecution after psychiatric reports were carried out.

Mr Carter said: “The crown point to clear financial motive.

“This wasn’t some meaningless act – a deep-seated hatred of his father; the fire was deliberately sited to minimise the chances of escape of those upstairs; it was necessary to move furniture to access the cupboard.

“Of course after the event having stolen the wallet he used the bank card.”

He said that Croghan “spoke of lighting a cardboard box under the stairs as Elon Musk wanted to go to Mars”, adding that the defendant  “appeared not to be in touch with reality”.

While at a secure unit afterwards, he carried out Google searches for “what to do if accused of murder” and “how to get away with arson”.

Mr Carter said Croghan had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital after an incident in May 2020, when in Norwich after he had dropped out of a course at Reading University in March 2020.

“He began to report hearing voices in his head which he blamed on the neighbour,” said Mr Carter.

“An incident followed where he assaulted that neighbour and his father and caused criminal damage.”

Croghan was later discharged and assured staff he would take his prescribed medication and stop taking “illicit drugs”, with Mr Carter adding it was “on that basis he was assessed as a low risk”.

However, Mr Carter said Croghan did not take his medication and was using cocaine and cannabis and “appeared to be abusing alcohol”.

“Fellow students at Manchester describe his behaviour from the outset as being strange and unsettling and it became worse as that first term went on, through November and into the first days of December 2020,” he said.

“He’s described as spiralling out of control to the point his flatmates contacted their residential life co-ordinator.”

Croghan refused to engage with them and refused an offer of counselling, Mr Carter said, and “in email exchanges between December 7 and 9 Croghan informed the university he would shortly be leaving”.

In early December 2020, he called his father with “various questions about finance” and had been “saying that he wanted his inheritance”, Mr Carter said.

Dr Catherine Weeks, a specialist registrar in forensic psychiatry, told the court Croghan has a type of schizophrenia called hebephrenic.

Judge Anthony Bate described Croghan, who was accompanied in the secure dock by four nursing staff, as a “very troubled young man”.

“In my judgment you pose a high risk of serious harm to the public,” he said, as he sentenced him to a hospital order.

He imposed a restriction under Section 41 of the Mental Health Act 1983, noting that generally a person subject to this “isn’t discharged without approval of the Secretary of State for Justice”.

Richard Croghan said, in a victim impact statement, that he had lost his “wonderful mother” in the “tragedy”.

His brother James Croghan said he had “genuine fears for the future”, adding “what if he does it again?”

His sibling Mike Croghan said: “Our family has been torn apart by the grief and blame.”

Jennifer Dempster KC, mitigating, said: “He (Croghan) was deeply mentally unwell at the time of this offence and also psychotic.”

The judge instructed that two further charges, of the murder of his grandmother and the attempted murder of his father, should lie on the file.

Croghan was also convicted of two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, having assaulted two prison officers in separate incidents when he was transferred from the secure unit to Norwich Prison earlier this year.

Retired university lecturer Ms Croghan was described by her family as a “much-loved mum of four and grandmother of 10”.

“She was a well-known and highly respected academic, having been a lecturer in Swedish and Scandinavian Studies at the UEA from its establishment in 1963 until her retirement over 30 years later,” her family said.

“She was the author of the best-selling Teach Yourself Swedish book.

“She dearly loved Norwich and the local area, and she loved the house that she had lived in continuously for 57 years.”