Wiltshire coroner orders review into suicide

Mr Keogh was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 18

A coroner has ordered police and health services to review the way they treated a patient who hanged himself after being falsely accused of a sex assault.

An inquest into John Keogh's death in Wiltshire heard how police failed to tell him they had dropped the assault case against a fellow female patient.

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Trust said it always seeks to safeguard its clients and to learn from incidents.

Wiltshire Police will not comment until it has responded to the coroner.

'Charges withdrawn'

The 23-year-old was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 18.

It was because he had previously tried to kill himself that he was sectioned to Green Lane psychiatric hospital in Devizes.

His brother Christopher, 34, said John had formed a relationship with a female patient while at the hospital.

"When they both got out of the hospital they were going to move in together and he seemed very happy," he said.

But days later the woman claimed Mr Keogh had indecently assaulted her.

They brought his stuff back from hospital... the shoes without the laces that he killed himself with Christopher Keogh, brother

Mr Keogh was then moved to a secure ward in Salisbury and police later decided to drop the case and withdraw all charges after interviewing him.

But Wiltshire Police did not plan to tell him until four days later, by which time he had hanged himself with a pair of shoelaces.

Christopher Keogh said the trust had not offered any support.

"They brought his stuff back from hospital, the clothes he was wearing with the blood stains and the shoes without the laces that he killed himself with," he added.

In a statement Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Trust said its staff carried out one-to-one and regular observations with Mr Keogh on the night he died.

It added that it always sought to safeguard its clients and to learn from incidents," it said.

Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner David Ridley said he had written the letter in accordance with Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules 1984.

Rule 43 states a coroner has a wider remit to make reports to prevent future deaths - and a person receiving the report must sent a written report to the coroner.