Family of Melody Neal seeks answers after Mental Health Court ruling
A teenage schoolyard stabbing victim has sobbed uncontrollably during a hearing that found her attacker won’t face trial after it was revealed he suffered dangerous delusions. Now her parents are demanding answers. VIDEO
Cairns
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Parents of a student stabbed on school grounds are demanding answers after a court heard their child’s attacker was a “walking time bomb” and suffered dangerous psychotic delusions.
Teen stabbing victim Melody Neal sobbed uncontrollably during a mental health hearing that found her attacker Marc Rajan Taylor was of unsound mind.
It means he won’t face trial for the 2023 attack that nearly killed the Year 12 student and which she says changed her life forever.
On Tuesday, May 16 last year, the usual recess chatter was shattered by screams ringing from the quadrangle at Peace Lutheran College in Kamerunga.
The stabbing rocked the tight-knit community in Far North Queensland but parents Sharon Guest and Stewart Neal say there were warning signs leading up to the attack, which were mentioned in court.
“What was a surprise was the level of his psychosis,” Ms Guest said.
“His delusions were the Aboriginal community was wanting to commit a mass genocide and he had to protect his family at all costs.
“It manifested as him thinking (telegraph) poles outside his house were conductors with high tech monitoring and plants were giving him messages about a mass conspiracy.
“What became apparent was, that about six months before the attack our daughter was caught up in those delusions and he thought she was an Aboriginal CIA agent and he had to take precautions to protect his family.”
Ms Neal and Taylor were dating for a time but the relationship ended before the attack.
During the Mental Health Court hearing it was revealed Taylor had been receiving treatment for 18 months before the attack and had been prescribed the heavy antipsychotic Risperidone used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Taylor was charged with attempted murder, but the criminal case has now been discontinued.
Due to his mental at the time of the stabbing, a trial will not go ahead and questions asked by the family will remain unanswered.
“Without a criminal trial nothing is brought to light, the full story is not available,” Mr Neal said.
Ms Neal, now 19, has been left with horrific scars on her back and potential ongoing health issues stemming from severed nerves in her spine and damage to her liver.
She may never fully recover from the trauma and psychological damage and is terrified of her attacker being released from custody.
On that day in 2023, Ms Neal said her life changed forever in an instant.
She feels like she has been robbed of her final year of school and, and feelings of guilt for the rollercoaster ordeal her parents had been through.
“They went through a lot in the months of waiting to see if I would come through,” she said.
She also felt her rights as a victim had been pushed aside.
“I think they help him more than I get helped.”
Following the mental health hearing Ms Neal’s first thought was to apply through the justice system to be notified of any changes to her perpetrator’s detention.
“I really want to know if he does get released or has some sort of release into society, because then I can prepare myself,” she said.
Her mother said victims were overlooked by the system.
“Sitting in the Mental Health Court, no one recognised the attack on Melody,” Ms Guest said.
“There was a lot of talk on how well he was doing in the system and maybe in the future he could be released, there was all this care (for him) and my daughter was crying in a catatonic state on my shoulder for two to three hours and I am like: What about my daughter?”
Last year, the family said they “were awe-struck by the humbling care and humanity that poured our way from the Peace Lutheran College community”, and that the actions of college staff “saved Melody’s life”.
Ms Guest said her family does not blame the mental health system or the school but they want to prevent it happening again.
“We are not pointing the finger at anyone, he nearly killed our daughter on school premises, how did that happen?” Ms Guest asked.
The family have now applied under Right to Information laws to access the police brief and mental health records in the pursuit of closure and healing for Ms Neal, who has struggled to come to terms with the attack not being about her.
“It chilled me to the core, I had to explain that he didn’t hate her, he was just psychotic,” Ms Guest said.
Adopted from a Chinese orphanage as a three-year-old, Ms Neal came into the care of Sharon Guest and Stuart after enduring shocking deprivation.
She had no language, had never been fed solid food, had never experienced the comfort of human touch and was left to cry for hours on end.
What Ms Neal’s parents saw there will leave a mark on them forever.
To survive against the odds and begin a new life in Australia and then to win a fight for life after being stabbed seven times was a miracle, according to her parents.
“She is meant to be here,” Ms Guest said.
Last month a three-member panel of health experts sitting of the Mental Heath Court agreed Taylor will be held in The Park Centre for Mental Health for up to 10 years before release is considered.
“All three people in the court recommended that he be held in for the maximum time and they all agreed he should be kept in for as long as possible,” Ms Guest said.
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