A MAN who fell from the Humber Bridge had been allowed to leave a mental health hospital despite warning staff he wanted to kill himself.
Stephen Hope, 45, was being treated at Newbridges inpatient unit in east Hull, an inquest at Hull Coroner's Court was told.
Mr Hope, of Hopkins Street, east Hull, had been sectioned in the institution following an attempted overdose, but had been downgraded to an "informal patient" after staff classed him as low-risk on March 26, after two weeks of treatment.
It meant that Mr Hope, who had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, was no longer under constant supervision and could leave the unit for short periods.
On the same day Mr Hope was downgraded to being an informal patient, he warned staff that if he was released he would end his life.
The following morning, police found Mr Hope on railway tracks after a near-miss with a train at Hull Paragon Interchange.
He told police that he had "bottled it" and that he "could not believe" he had not gone through with suicide.
Despite being brought back to Newbridges, a consultant psychiatrist decided Mr Hope was not at risk of seriously harming himself on March 27.
He was allowed to leave by himself the next morning after telling staff he was going to look for accommodation at The Wilson Centre in Hull.
Instead, he went to Humber Bridge, where he was seen on CCTV falling from the railings.
His body was found close to the railway tracks beneath the bridge.
Professor Paul Marks, senior coroner for Hull and East Yorkshire, said that staff should have been aware Mr Hope had not been telling the truth.
"Here we have a gentleman who had been pulling the wool over your eyes," he told Stephen Quarshire, a staff nurse at Newbridges.
"Surely that would have rung some alarm bells.
"It seems to me inherently absurd that you could not take into consideration his history of behaviour."
Mr Quarshire, who has been a member of staff at Newbridges since June last year, said that Mr Hope was allowed to leave because "his story was plausible".
"I had asked him if he had the oppor tunity to kill himself, would he, and he said no," Mr Quarshire said.
"He had been absolutely honest with me until then.
"He was calm – he was not fidgeting or anxious at all."
Janet Powdrell, Mr Hope's mother, said that he was a loving son who "doted" on his only daughter.
"Stephen was a happy go lucky man," Mrs Powdrell said in her statement to the court.
"He loved all of his nieces and nephews and they loved him back.
"He will be missed by all his family."
The inquest continues.
