Murderer was found dead at mental health clinic
A MURDERER who bludgeoned a hairdresser to death was found dead at a mental health clinic where he was serving his sentence.
Adrian Vivian Jones, 28, died on February 18, 2018, at Caswell Clinic, Glanrhyd Hospital in Bridgend, after he was found unresponsive in bed by a staff member. CPR was started and attempts were made to use a defibrillator – but Jones was later pronounced dead.
Eleven years before his death Jones, then 16, murdered 24-year-old Kelly Hyde after attacking her with a heavy barbell while she was walking her dog along a path in Pantyffynnon, near Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, on September 28, 2007.
Her body was found three days later lying face down in a river at the bottom of an embankment. Jones was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 12 years after being convicted of murder at Swansea Crown Court in 2008.
An inquest hearing at Pontypridd Coroners’ Court last Thursday heard from Diane Jones, the deceased’s mother, who said her son was due to visit her on day release on the day of his death.
She described how Jones suffered from bullying as a child, his exclusion from school, and how he witnessed his father assaulting his mother at their home in Ammanford.
The court heard he began abusing cannabis at a young age and moved on to cocaine, which affected his mental health.
Following his sentencing Jones was later transferred from custody to Ashworth Hospital because of a deterioration in his mental health and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
In 2016 he was transferred to Caswell Clinic in order to receive treatment for a number of physical and mental health issues he had developed.
At around 6.20am on February 18, 2018, senior nurse Charis Jones heard
Jones loudly snoring from his bedroom and went to check up on him. She looked through a privacy glass window and could see him asleep in bed, sitting upright with his chin on his chest but without his mask on.
Ms Jones checked on the patient and briefly woke him and put his mask on before laying him on his back.
She said he fell back to sleep and seemed to be breathing soundly.
At around 10.10am on February 18 ward manager Sharon Rees was making her way to check on a patient who was based opposite Jones’s room when she heard beeping coming from the CPAP machine in the room.
Giving evidence via video link, Ms Rees said: “I made my way to Adrian, and looking at him I could see no signs of life.
“I moved the mask and there was no response from him. I felt for a pulse in his neck and couldn’t feel one, or on his wrist.”
An ambulance was called and staff members began performing chest compressions on Jones. CPR was continued with but at 10.30am the decision was made to stop treatment and Jones was declared dead at 10.30am.
A post-mortem examination was carried out by pathologist Maurizio Brotto, who gave an official cause of death as 1a. respiratory failure and 1b. pulmonary embolism combined with sleep apnoea.
An underlying condition of deep vein thrombosis was also noted and significant conditions that also related to death included severe obesity, hypertension, and asthma.
As well as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Jones also experienced depression and anxiety, and in 2018 he had taken an overdose of fatburner pills. He later told staff he had done this because he was in a low mood and “ashamed of what he had done to his victim”.
In her conclusion, senior coroner Sarah Richards said Jones “had a future ahead of him” and was “clearly on the right track”.
She recorded a conclusion that Jones had died from natural causes.