Jury deliberations have begun over the death of a man who was strangled in a mental hospital.
Richard Laversuch, 63, from Andover, died at Parklands Mental Hospital in Basingstoke on November 27, 2021, after being strangled by another patient, Owen Herbert, then 18.
The jury inquest began on Monday, July 13 at Winchester’s Coroners Court.
Addressing the jury, Coroner Nicholas Walker said: “On the first day of evidence we heard a lot about the two families. Each has been greatly affected by what happened on the 26 and 27 of November 2021.
“Their lives have been utterly changed by those 12 hours or so that you have been concentrating on.”
In November, Mr Laversuch was staying in the Juniper Ward for acute admissions and was waiting for a placement to be discharged.
Mr Herbert was admitted into the Juniper Ward just after 11pm on November 26 after an investigation under the Mental Health Act deemed him ‘lacking capacity’ and that he should be detained for his own safety.
The court heard that previous to being admitted to Parklands, Mr Herbert had been hearing voices, citing that ‘life is a game’ and that he needed to obey the voices’ orders, otherwise he would be ‘tortured’ and ‘erased.’
He had been seen leaving the house with knives, a cricket bat, and weapons on several separate occasions and had exposed himself in public, the court was told.
Upon his admission into Juniper Ward, the jury heard that Mr Herbert had attempted to strangle another patient but was investigated by staff who believed he was asleep.
Around 15 minutes later, at 3.55am he was seen entering Mr Laversuch’s room and was found by staff to be strangling him, the court heard.
READ MORE: What happens at an inquest and what can the press report?
A statement from consultant forensic psychologist, Dr Oliver White, stated that Mr Herbert said the voices had instructed him to kill someone immediately before strangling Mr Laversuch.
Describing a statement from Mr Herbert’s parents, Mr Walker said: “Owen, they said was kind, gentle and caring and would not have done what he did if he had been well.”
During the proceedings, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust accepted responsibility for failures.
Speaking from the trust, Donna Greenwood said that Mr Herbert should have been admitted to Hazel ward, the intensive care unit, and accepted that the ward was insufficiently staffed, staff failed to carry out risk assessment and there were failures in communication.
A post-mortem examination concluded that Mr Laversuch died of manual strangulation.
Mr Walker said: “For many years he [Richard] lived with schizophrenia but his life was much more than that. He clearly came from a loving family. He was tolerant, gentle and kind.
“The family are left angry by how Richard died, he died in a place where he should have been safe.”
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In a trial in February 2023, Mr Herbert pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating of an emergency worker.
He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order and will only be released when a mental health tribunal considers him to be safe and the Secretary of State consents.
Helplines
If you would like any help with bereavement, loss or mental wellbeing, here are some helpline numbers:
Call the Samaritans on 116 123 or go online at samaritans.org
Child Bereavement UK 0800 028 8840 childbereavementuk.org
Cruse Bereavement Care 0808 808 1677 cruse.org.uk
Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) 0300 111 5065 uksobs.org
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