Coroner slams hospital escaped and dashed in ‘Missed opportunities’ in the care of man
ADAD of three who suffered from hallucinations caused by severe alcohol withdrawal died after he absconded from hospital and ran in front of a car.
Anthony Mckenzie, 37, of Wardle Gardens, Rochdale, died on May 18, 2021, following a collision with a BMW X4 vehicle on Rochdale Old Road in Bury.
He had just left the nearby Fairfield Hospital, having been admitted the night before due to a mental health relapse.
Anthony, who was described as ‘ fun loving’ and ‘caring’, had been a worker at the JD Sports warehouse at Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale since 2010.
Having started as a warehouse operative, he made his way up to the role of shift leader - something he was said to have been incredibly proud of.
The dad-of-three ‘loved everything about his job’, an inquest into his death at Rochdale Coroner’s Court heard.
In August 2020, Anthony was asked to swap his consecutive three night work pattern around to different days - something which the court was told caused him ‘some stress’.
Partner Vikki Alderson told the court that while the switch had impacted her work pattern and childcare arrangements, they eventually settled into the change.
A month later, in September 2020, Anthony’s dad, who was living in Canada, died. Due to the pandemic, he was unable to fly over for his funeral - something Miss Alderson said meant he ‘wasn’t able to grieve properly’.
Previously just a social drinker, the passing of his dad caused Anthony to start drinking more.
When he wasn’t working, he was said to have drunk between one to three bottles of spirits a day.
The court also heard how Anthony had been ‘essentially living two lives’.
He had two children with Miss Alderson, who had been with since 2009. When not in an ‘off and on again’ relationship with her, he had also been seeing Catherine Howarth since 2016 and who he had a son with.
Coroner Ms Joanne Kearsley told the court: “He was effectively living between two families.
“Each of his partners are unlikely to have been fully aware of his involvement with the other and it appears he was not being entirely truthful with either.”
The court heard how he would often spend time between the two partners and this, alongside his ‘personal and professional difficulties’, had caused him some stress.
In April 2021, an anonymous complaint at work led to Anthony being asked to participate in a drugs test at work. Having provided a urine sample, Anthony then spilt some of the liquid on his arm before pouring it down the toilet. This behaviour, deemed ‘unacceptable’ by his employer, resulted in him being suspended from work.
However, the court was told there was never any evidence to suggest he was ever under the influence of alcohol or drugs at work.
Following his suspension from work, Antony’s drinking began to increase again.
In the early morning of May 17, 2021, Miss Alderson said Anthony had woken up in a distressed state.
“He said he saw some