Government rejects tribunal call

The Department for Constitutional Affairs has rejected calls from an inquiry to review its procedures for releasing restricted patients.

The inquiry into the treatment of John Barrett, who killed a man in 2004 after escaping from Springfield Hospital in south London, pointed to flaws in the mental health review tribunal which granted him a conditional discharge in 2003.

Although Barrett had been informally readmitted to hospital at the time of the killing, it found the tribunal paid insufficient  attention to the home secretary’s objections to his release.

A spokesperson for the Tribunals Service said a review was unnecessary as a number of the inquiry’s recommendations were in place.