Thug who stabbed teenager 128 times was transferred to psychiatric hospital the day he was jailed

A murderer who stabbed a teenager 128 times spent just two hours in jail before he was transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital.

Brian Healless, 20, lured 18-year-old Alex Davies to a remote beauty spot in 2019 after they arranged to meet up through LGBT dating app Grindr.

Healless was ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years in jail after a jury rejected claims that his responsibility was diminished by his mental state. 

Alex’s mother Beverley Davies has now learnt, to her shock, that he was transferred to Guild Lodge hospital in Preston, Lancashire, on the day he was jailed.

Brian Healless, 20, lured 18-year-old Alex Davies to a remote beauty spot in 2019 after they arranged to meet up through LGBT dating app Grindr

He was moved after a request from a doctor who had been treating him.

But Mrs Davies, 56, believes he is feigning illness. She said: ‘The intentions of the judge in his sentencing remarks have been subverted. We feel justice has not been served on a sadistic murderer and a potential serial killer who should never be released into society.’

Healless tried to set up Grindr meetings with four other men in the days after the killing. As he jailed him at Preston Crown Court last year, Judge Mark Brown said it was ‘extremely fortuitous’ that he had been arrested ‘before anyone else suffered the same fate’.

Healless, from Chorley, blamed his actions on ‘a voice in his head’ but Judge Brown branded him ‘manipulative, calculating and devious’.

Victim Alex Davies is pictured above. Alex’s mother Beverley Davies has now learnt, to her shock, that he was transferred to Guild Lodge hospital in Preston, Lancashire, on the day he was jailed

In April 2019, Healless stabbed the Home Bargains sales assistant on Parbold Hill in Lancashire and dragged him face down by his collar before covering his body with leaves.

In correspondence with Mrs Davies, prisons minister Alex Chalk said assessments from four psychiatrists confirm Healless has a mental disorder that requires hospital treatment. Mr Chalk said the transfer ‘did not in any way subvert the life sentence’.

The Ministry of Justice apologised for failing to ‘promptly’ inform Mrs Davies of the transfer. 

A spokesman said: ‘Prisoners may be transferred for treatment in mental health hospitals, based on assessments by expert clinicians, but will return to serve their sentence in prison once they are fit to do so.’