M ental I llness C oncerns A ll	Neale (N) showed early signs of schizophrenia when he was fourteen., and became ill when seventeen. His parents had split up the year before and he spent one year with his father, after which his base point was largely around his mother - the eventual victim. His illness responded to medication but he rarely sustained any regime, and he never stopped using street drugs. The care was failing but it was not clear what could be done. What should be done was known; he should be in a locked facility, for a long enough time. But the facility was not there. Despite it being known that Neale was uncooperative with treatment, and worse, pursued a life of street drug abuse, which prevented his illness coming under control, the working practice at the time could not find a solution to this predicament. As nothing serious seemed to happen - no serious incident brought things to a head, things drifted along, the burden of the disappointing progress being borne by the lay carers, hostel staff and mother, rather than the professional care services. The lay help lacked the authority which was necessary. The professional service had the authority, but did not have a working system of security which they could turn to in the ordinary run of their work. Nobody took the decisive step. His mother was critical of his life style and attempted to intervene and persuade him to change it. She did not distance herself from her son. It is not clear that she knew of any danger. Reviewed Neale	E-mail reaction is welcome mica@didgy.freeserve.co.uk