Sue Addis: Brighton woman searched treatment for grandson, court hears

Sue Addis, 69, had looked for a private clinic for addiction and mental health treatment on the day she was killed by her grandson, Pietro Addis.

At a trial into her alleged murder, the prosecution said that Mrs Addis was “considering in-patient treatment for her grandson at a specialist centre".

Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecuting, said in his opening remarks that on the day of her death Mrs Addis searched for “the Priory, Ticehurst”, a “private clinic for addiction and mental health treatment”.

He added: “It seems as though she was considering in-patient treatment for her grandson at a specialist centre.”

A jury at Lewes Crown Court also heard that Mrs Addis had sent an email to a doctor saying that her family were “having problems with Pietro”.

Pietro Addis arriving at court (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The email said he had started smoking cannabis and that he had “become impossible to reason with”.

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Pietro, who was then 17, was living with his grandmother at the time of her death in January 2021. He was also attending a catering college as well as working in Donatello restaurant in The Lanes, which Mrs Addis owned.

He had been prescribed medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which he was diagnosed with in 2018.

Pietro, now 19, is accused of murdering his grandmother at her home in Cedar Gardens in Brighton.

Mr Scamardella added: “As tragic and as bewildering as it may be, the prosecution contends that Pietro Addis murdered his grandmother, Susan Addis.”

Sue Addis, left, was described as a 'prominent local businesswoman'

Pietro admits killing his grandmother and has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.

Paramedics arrived at the scene at 7.10pm and found Mrs Addis’s body in her bathroom. A post-mortem revealed that she suffered 17 stab wounds to the body.

Ms Addis was a well-known restaurateur in Brighton and was described in court as a “prominent local businesswoman”.

As well as Donatello she ran Pinocchio in New Road.

The trial is presided over by Judge Christine Laing KC, who told the jury that previous attempts to try the case had failed for "a variety of reasons".

The trail continues and is expected to last two weeks.