A man with psychosis who killed a hotel receptionist weeks after being set free from prison was not referred to community care teams or a GP when he was released, an inquest has heard.
The mental health team at Winchester prison was understaffed and lacked leadership after a takeover of its services by a private provider, the inquest was told.
Stephen Cole killed Spanish national Marta Elena Vento, 27, in the reception of a Travelodge in Bournemouth after his supply of an antipsychotic medication given to him as he left prison ran out. He and his family had tried unsuccessfully to get him more medication.
A senior mental health nurse who was involved in Cole’s care in prison told Vento’s inquest on Thursday that when he was freed in autumn 2020, the mental health care team was struggling because of Covid and getting used to the new private health provider, Practice Plus Group (PPG).
Antoinette Hopkin said it was “crisis work”. She said: “We had limited staffing and we tried to keep things going, tried to keep people safe in prison. We would attend to immediate risks, the crisis events going on in the prison. Administrative work would build up. Administrative tasks were not being completed in a timely manner. I don’t think we had the capacity to keep everything up to date.”
The inquest in Bournemouth has heard that while in prison on remand for indecent exposure, Cole attacked fellow inmates and staff but was stabilised after being prescribed the anti-psychotic drug Olanzapine.
Cole, then 32, was suddenly released from prison on 27 October 2020 after pleading guilty to the offences. He had no permanent accommodation, and on 9 December was staying at a Travelodge in Bournemouth when he punched, kicked and attacked Vento with hair clippers. The attack lasted for 42 minutes and she suffered 55 injuries.
Hopkin said on average 20-30 prisoners were in crisis every day at the time. She said the prison was also getting used to the new healthcare provider. “We lost most of the senior management. It was a difficult time.” She had only been there for seven months but was the longest serving on her team. “We just all mucked in.”
She said she knew that as Cole was of no fixed abode it would be very difficult for him to be put in touch with community health teams, and she told the inquest they should have written to a GP about him.
The PPG regional manager Samantha Elkins previously told the inquest that information about Cole should have been sent to a GP, and the provider should have tried to get him mental health support.
A statement from Vento’s father, Luis Elena Blas, described his daughter, from València, as having been devoted to her friends and having a love of travel, animals and music. She was attacked on only her second night at work.
He said: “Marta only worked two nights and did not survive the second night as a killer took her away from us and destroyed our lives.”
Cole pleaded guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility and has been detained indefinitely in hospital under the Mental Health Act.
The inquest continues.
