I’m going to tell you a story – and it really is a story.  It’s a composite of events, hypothetical answers to questions I’ve been asked in Coroner’s courts, questions posed when delivering training and following discussion on social media.  It concerns the common-enough situation of someone encountered in a private premises when time may […]

A report was made to the police of a section 3 Mental Health Act (MHA) patient who had been granted leave from hospital under s17 MHA and whilst out of the grounds, absconded from an escort and failed to return, rendering themselves Absent Without Leave (AWOL).  The patient had been on a psychiatric intensive care […]

“Most custody suites are the last resort as a place of safety but are often utilised because most NHS facilities, certainly over the years, have been pared back and pared back.” Is this correct? – well, no, it’s not.  Not really … so let’s look at the law and the statistics which have bearing on […]