Inquest for woman found dead at mental health unit

AN inquest date has been set for a woman who was found dead in her room at a mental health hospital.

Deseree Fitzpatrick, 30, was found unresponsive in her room at the Priory Hospital, Cheadle, on January 23 this year.

A pre-inquest review at South Manchester Coroners’ Court in Stockport fixed a date for Ms Fitzpatrick’s inquest for November 7 this year, which is scheduled to last a week.

Coroner Alison Mutch has asked Greater Manchester Police to look into their investigation into Ms Fitzpatrick’s death again as police originally determined that the drugs found in her system were all prescribed to her.

However, Ms Mutch said this was ‘incorrect.’

An antidepressant was found in her system, the court heard, which had not been prescribed to her, which was of concern to the coroner as it is unclear how she would have got that into the mental health ward.

“This is an important factor for the police to look at,” Ms Mutch said.

The court heard that Ms Fitzpatrick was not formally in state detention while at the Priory, with the inquest set to look at her mental health history and why she was taken to this hospital.

The impact of how she became homeless and the impact of this had on her mental health, as well as the events and ‘observations’ on the night she died, and when she was found ‘unresponsive’ will also be explored in the inquest, Ms Mutch said.

A date of August 25 was set for another pre-inquest review, to discuss which statements should be admitted into evidence, including from police and those at the hospital.

This hearing will also determine if the inquest should be an ‘Article two’ hearing, which is usually held in cases where an individual has died whilst being in the custody of the state, but can be heard when someone is a patient at a psychiatric hospital, but not under the Mental Health Act.

Representing the family, Gareth Naylor asked the coroner if the hearing was likely to be an ‘Article two’ one, to which Ms Mutch responded that “it struck me looking at the papers that she was not formally in state detention but this was a situation the court envisaged for this type of hearing. It is an unnatural death while she was detained at the Priory and she had been put there by a state agency”.

A provisional date of November 7, for a week long hearing, was set for the full inquest. The Priory hospital was represented by Kate Blacklidge and David Watts.