GRANDAD John McGrath who was stabbed to death by his schizophrenic grandson had fought to get him help – but he had to die for that to happen, an inquest was told.
William Barnard pleaded guilty to Mr McGrath's manslaughter, by diminished responsibility, in 2010.
Mr McGrath was the father of Erewash Valley Golf Club chairman Peter McGrath.
Barnard was 30 when he was ordered to be indefinitely detained at Rampton high-security hospital under the Mental Health Act. Now, an inquest has opened into the 81-year-old's death in Nottingham, to investigate the circumstances of how he died.
His daughter, Ann Popow , told the hearing in a moving statement at the start of the inquest: "Dad loved all his grandchildren, but he was a father figure to Will and always looked out for him.
"Dad was saddened by Will's illness and the inadequate support he was receiving.
"He said to mum, 'I'm not a happy man when I can see one of my grandchildren is suffering'. He fought tirelessly to get William the help he needed and he had to die for that to happen."
After killing Mr McGrath, Barnard turned the knife on his grandmother, Mabel, then 84, but she survived. Mrs Popow told the hearing: "She is tortured by daily flashbacks of that day and having to somehow carry on without her husband: the man who was her reason for living.
"She wishes she hadn't survived and that she had gone with him. It will take a very long time for our grief to pass, if indeed it does."
Just days before Mr McGrath was killed, on July 24, 2009, Barnard, of Wesley Place, Stapleford, was apparently seen bare-chested and growling. Months before, he had been mistakenly identified as a suspect with a machete in an alleged attempted robbery.
Health team workers had been seeing him following reports that he had been aggressive to cleaners at his flat, the inquest was told.
Barnard had not had his anti-psychotic injections since December 2008.
Between April and July 2009, his mental health was in decline but no attempt was made to assess him under the Mental Health Act, the inquest heard.
An assessment should have taken place and was planned for July 27, three days after Barnard killed his 81-year-old grandfather, of Thorpe Close, Stapleford.
Barnard had been detained under the Mental Health Act in 2007 and had consented to the anti-psychotic injections.
The following year, his consultant Stuart Leask, told the hearing, Barnard looked decently turned-out and there was no evidence of self-neglect. He was being seen by another health team for drug and alcohol issues and had been prescribed methadone.
Mr McGrath had contacted the outreach team involved in his grandson's care because he was concerned he was not caring for himself properly.
Barnard also rang them to say they were "hounding him", by visiting his flat and waiting for him at the chemist, the inquest heard.
Heidi Connor, assistant coroner for Nottinghamshire, will hear evidence for two weeks.
She said: "Two key areas I need to consider are whether William should have been detained by mental health services and whether police should have arrested and detained him before July 24."
She said the inquiry was fact-finding and she was not there to find scapegoats.
