Fellow Nurses Africa News | 13 July, 2025
A Father’s Plea: The Unmanaged Mental Health Crisis Behind Dr Fortune Gomo’s Murder
Dundee, Scotland – July 13, 2025 – The heart-wrenching murder of Dr Fortune Gomo, a 39-year-old Zimbabwean scientist, on a quiet Dundee street has left a community in mourning and ignited a urgent debate about Scotland’s mental health care system.
Kyler Rattray, a 20-year-old charged with her murder, appeared in private at Dundee Sheriff Court on July 7, 2025, entering no plea and was remanded in custody. In a raw and emotional TikTok video, Rattray’s father laid bare the devastating consequences of his son’s unmanaged mental health issues, pleading for accountability and urging the public to focus their grief and anger on systemic failures rather than divisive racial narratives.
Dr Gomo, a distinguished academic and senior service planner at Scottish Water, was fatally stabbed on South Road on July 5, 2025, while walking with her young daughter.
For full details, read here “Dr Fortune’s Tragic Murder: UK African Community Calls for Justice”
With a PhD from the University of Dundee, she was celebrated for her groundbreaking work in water conservation and community health, earning her the title of a “rising star” among colleagues and the city’s Zimbabwean community. Her death has left an indelible void, with Police Scotland confirming Rattray as the sole suspect and assuring no broader threat to public safety. Detective Superintendent Peter Sharp leads the ongoing investigation, with a report submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
Rattray’s father, in a voice heavy with grief, shared his son’s five-year struggle with severe mental health issues, which began at age 15 after a psychotic episode triggered by prednisone treatment for Bell’s palsy in 2020.
Diagnosed at 16, Rattray faced extended hospitalization, medication resistance, and electroconvulsive therapy, yet his condition remained volatile. A near-fatal incident last year, where he almost harmed his brother, highlighted the gravity of his illness. “I intervened at the last minute,” his father recalled, his pain palpable. Despite family pleas to keep him in care, a psychiatrist approved Rattray’s release into the community earlier this year.
“When stable, he’s the kindest boy you’ll ever meet,” his father said. “But the system failed him spectacularly. Why was he released?”
Rejecting speculation that has stirred community tensions, Rattray’s father was unequivocal: “If people are going to protest and throw the racial card, that’s not the case. Dundee is safe.”
He implored residents to redirect their protest energy toward challenging the establishment that failed his son and, ultimately, Dr Gomo. “I’m not here for sympathy,” he stressed. “People should take this fight to the system that let this happen.”
The tragedy has galvanized calls for reform in Dundee’s mental health services.
As floral tributes line South Road and a fundraising event unfolds at Sandy’s Bar to support Dr Gomo’s family, the city mourns a brilliant scientist while confronting the stark reality of a system that failed to manage a young man’s condition, leading to catastrophic consequences.
The Zimbabwean community, gathering to honor Dr Gomo, has voiced broader concerns about safety, with one resident asking, “Why should our children live in fear?” As Dundee awaits further developments in the legal proceedings, advocates are pressing for robust mental health support to ensure such a tragedy is never repeated.
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