Chesterfield mental health patient found dead in woodland

Roy Thompson, aged 60, was found hanging in trees in Westwood, Brimington Common, on the afternoon of October 22, 2015 – having gone missing from Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s Hartington Unit, at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, seven days earlier.

The jury inquest heard Mr Thompson, who had been admitted to Hartington voluntarily after three suicide attempts within a fortnight, was seen running from the unit on the morning of October 15 by fellow patient Tammy Peacock.

In a statement read to the inquest, she said: “As I went down the corridor, a patient ran past me and left the unit. As I was walking outside, I saw the man jump over the low fence panels surrounding the hospital – he ran off.”

Detective Constable Sally Martin, a trainee detective constable with Chesterfield CID at the time of Mr Thompson’s death, said he was last seen on CCTV on North Road, Calow, shortly before 9.30am on October 15.

The inquest heard he was found a week later, in woodland less than a mile away, by a dog walker.

Det Con Martin said: “There was no evidence of any third party involvement, or anything suspicious.”

Michelle Hague, trust area service manager with responsibility for the Hartington Unit, said, once Mr Thompson was identified as missing, at about 10.30am, the unit and grounds were searched and CCTV checked, before police were contacted.

The jury inquest heard he had been reduced from observation “level three”, involving contact with staff every 15 minutes, to level four, involving hourly checks on his whereabouts, within 16 hours of his admission to the unit, when the usual assessment period was 72 hours.

However, while saying she believed the observation level was “reduced too early”, Miss Hague said she could not say whether Mr Thompson would have been found sooner, if it had been identified he was missing earlier.

However, she did say staff “would maybe have had more conservations with him before he went missing”.

The inquest continues.