A SUICIDAL man was not detained by staff at Great Western Hospital because there was no evidence he was suffering from mental health issues, an inquest heard.

Luke Bitmead was escorted from GWH at 5am on October 27, 2006 wearing his pyjamas and hospital slippers. Just over an hour later he was re-admitted having thrown himself 30ft from Brunel West car park in Farnsby Street. He was dead by 10am.

The talented writer’s death came just five months after launching his first book White Summer to great critical acclaim.

Day two of an inquest into the 34-year-old’s death, held at Trowbridge Coroner’s Court yesterday, heard that the on-call psychiatrist saw no reason to section the troubled author, who was already receiving treatment for liver and kidney failure following an overdose.

Susan Rowland said that based on the information passed to her by staff caring for Luke, she did not have grounds to carry out a Mental Health Act assessment on the patient – something that could have potentially seen him detained at the hospital for his own safety.

Mrs Rowland said that there was nothing to suggest Luke, from Southrop, Gloucestershire, was suffering from a mental disorder.

Speaking for Luke’s mother and stepfather, Elaine and Chris Hanson, barrister Lucy MacKinnon said: “Isn’t it implied in the fact that the crisis team had been called to the hospital to assess Luke and they came straight to you with concerns about Luke’s mental health?”

Mrs Rowland said she believed their concerns were regarding Luke’s refusal of treatment for his physical health – his ailing liver and kidneys which had been damaged when he swallowed 64 paracetamol tablets four days earlier in a failed suicide bid.

“The grounds that a Mental Health Act assessment is done was if he was showing signs of a mental disorder,” she said. “No-one said anything about that.

“At the time there was concern about his refusal of treatment and I felt they wanted to use the assessment to treat that.

“The issue was with refusal of treatment and you cannot use the Mental Health Act to treat physical symptoms.”

Asked if she went to see the patient, Mrs Rowlands said she had not.

Coroner David Ridley asked; “But you could have?”

“I could have if I’d felt it necessary,” she replied.

Speaking after the day’s evidence, Elaine Hanson’s legal representative, Joachim Stanley, of Swindon law firm Withy King, is representing the family at the inquest. He said: “The central issue is why Luke was allowed to leave the hospital, when arguably the hospital should have exercised their powers under the mental health act and detained him.

“Luke’s death was a tragedy, and I hope that Friday’s conclusion will help to bring some closure to his family.”

The inquest continues.