An 82-year-old man was stabbed to death in his front garden by a neighbour with a history of mental health and drug issues.
Retired civil engineer Gerald Ring was relaxing in a chair in the early afternoon last September when Julian Donoher, 51, walked up to him and drew a knife from his pocket before stabbing him repeatedly.
Mr Ring managed to get inside his home where he called 999 but he died three days later in hospital.
Immediately following the stabbing, Donoher put the knife back in his pocket and calmly walked away before making the ‘delusional’ claim he had ‘killed a paedophile’ and would be seen as ‘a legend in prison’.
Donoher, a ‘long-standing user’ of cannabis, alcohol, heroin, cocaine and Mamba, was charged with murder but was this week handed a hospital order after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
Prosecutors accepted the lesser charge after psychological assessments showed he suffers from a schizoaffective disorder.
Derby Crown Court heard he had a history of mental health problems including bipolar disorder, ADHD and depression, and of substance misuse.
He also had multiple criminal convictions including for violence and drug possession.
One doctor said his choice to use illicit drugs was ‘a significant contributing factor’.
Gerard Ring, 82, was described as a devoted father who would do anything for his family.
Julian Donoher, 51, was a ‘long-standing user’ of cannabis, alcohol, heroin and cocaine and had a string of previous convictions for drugs and violence, Derby Crown Court heard
Following his sentencing, Mr Ring’s devastated daughter Sapphire Greatorex called for tighter restrictions on offenders with mental health issues.
The family had urged the judge to hand Donoher a custodial sentence instead of a hospital order after Derby Crown Court heard he had not taken any of his medication for his mental health issues for around nine months before the attack.
Mrs Greatorex said her father, an avid crossword fan who loved tending to his garden, had been attacked by a ‘coward’.
‘He attacked my dad who was 82 years old and sat in a chair,’ she said.
‘I’d like it to never happen to another family again, but that’s idealistic. I think things need to change, huge changes need to be made.’
Mrs Greatorex spoke to her dad in hospital and he told her: ‘He just came at me and wanted to kill me, I tried to defend myself.’
She said: ‘It broke my heart. When he said it he was like a child, he was absolutely terrified. I think he knew he was going to die.’
Mr Ring was born in Dublin where he spent the first 16 years of his life before moving to England to be a builder – working on large civil engineering projects such as the M1 extensions.
He had four children from his first marriage to Sandra – three biological children – Gerard, Tracey, Kelly and one adopted daughter Denise, and moved to Derby following a period living abroad in South Africa where he had worked in construction.
He met his second wife Marie in Derby in 1974. Marie had three children from a previous relationship – Michelle, Guy and Lisa – before Sapphire was born in 1980, and ten years later the family moved to a home in Quarndon, a village in Derbyshire.
The couple later moved to Derby where he lived alone following the death of his wife.
The court heard Donoher, a drug user since the age of 20, had suffered a delusion that Mr Ring was a paedophile, and that he had been told by police he needed to ‘take out’ what he said were ‘wrong ‘uns’.
After the attack, he told neighbours he had ‘killed the paedophile’ and had already killed 66 others as part of his crusade.
Mark Heywood KC, prosecuting, said: ‘Unambiguously, there is no truth in any such suggestion. These were delusional comments.’
He said Mr Ring, who suffered from blood cancer and had mobility issues, was a much-loved keen gardener whose neighbours described him as ‘such a pleasant man’.
The prosecutor said Mr Ring was sitting outside his house in the Six Streets area of Derby on the afternoon of September 6, 2025 when he was attacked.
Mr Heywood said: ‘At 2.55pm, Mr Donoher walked straight up to Mr Ring, who was seated, drew something from his pocket and began stabbing Mr Ring, gripping his head in the crook of his left arm as Mr Ring held his wrist as he did so.
‘He made three more stabbing motions.’
Mr Heywood said: ‘Mr Ring managed to return inside his home, get inside and lock the door.
‘He was still able to use his own phone to call 999 and explained to the operator he had been stabbed by a man he did not know.
‘Five wounds were identified and he was conveyed to hospital where, despite the best efforts of the medics, he died at 6.30am on September 9.
‘A neighbour asked Donoher what happened and he put his hands on her shoulders and said to her ‘I have killed a paedophile, don’t worry, darling, it’s alright’.
‘It is right to say there is no truth at all in this suggestion, this was a delusional comment.’
In harrowing CCTV footage Mr Ring can be heard screaming as he is attacked. His family members sobbed as it was played to the court.
Tracey Ring spoke in court ahead of the sentencing to call for a custodial sentence.
She said: ‘Nobody should ever have to watch the horror we did. I’m so hurt and in so much pain having to watch my Irish eyes daddy in pain for four days.
‘It affects each and every one of us.
‘We need to make a stand against knife crime.’
His son Gerard Ring said: ‘He was killed by a coward in his garden – his little spot of paradise where he should have been safe and sound.’
Kelly Charles, another of Ring’s daughters, said the anger she felt was ‘overwhelming’. ‘This last year has added insult to injury. This has all been about him [Donoher], and not my father who should be the centre of all of this.’
Handing Donoher a hospital order, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: ‘You have completely shattered the lives of Mr Ring’s family and they will never recover.
‘You brutally and repeatedly stabbed him and afterwards you put the knife in your pocket and walked away not caring about what you had done.’
