Psychiatric patient killer not deemed violent, inquest hears

A man with paranoid schizophrenia who killed a fellow patient was not given a specific care plan assessing his risk of violence, an inquest has heard.

Ahsan Zia punched, kicked and stamped on Michael Matthews, 55, at the Hadrian Clinic in Newcastle in April 2022.

The 33-year-old suffered with delusions about a plot to rape and kill him and was given an indefinite hospital order after admitting manslaughter in 2023.

An inquest into Michael Matthew's death at Newcastle Coroner's Court heard a Prevention of Violence and Aggression Plan had not been drawn up for Zia because he did not present as violent when he was admitted to the clinic.

Zia denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and is now being treated at the maximum security Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

Russell Patton, deputy chief operating officer for the Cumbria, Northumbria, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, told the inquest Zia had been put on "observation level" but a PMVA was "not a routine action" carried out for every patient.

When asked by the senior coroner Georgina Nolan whether staff had a discussion about how to mitigate the risk Zia presented, Patton confirmed this did not happen, saying "it should have been written down".

Zia, who also had hallucinations involving the late Queen, launched a 28-second attack after entering Matthews' room on the clinic's acute Fellside Wing.

When asked whether the incident would have happened if Zia had been given one-to-one observation, Patton told the inquest: "Incidents do occur when people are on observations even to the extent of two-to-one.

"It's not a guarantee that no incident will occur; it clearly reduces the likelihood, but doesn't prevent it - absolutely not."

The inquest heard the trust has made changes to its care plans since the incident.

Michael Matthews was previously described by his family as a nature lover with two brothers and a sister.

He died four days after being attacked, with family members travelling from Dorset to be by his bedside.

The inquest continues.

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