A psychiatric nurse has admitted that he made a "serious" mistake in claiming Zahid Mubarek's murderer Robert Stewart had an "untreatable" personality disorder.

Christopher Kinealy assessed Stewart at Altcourse prison in 1999, four months before he went on to kill his cellmate Mubarek at Feltham young offender institution.

The Mubarek family's counsel Dexter Dias told the public inquiry into Mubarek's death that Kinealy had known of treatments available to Stewart but failed to refer him to a psychiatrist.

Kinealy's entry into the inmate's medical record said Stewart had a "long-standing deep-seated personality disorder". He described Stewart's condition as "untreatable" and recommended no further action.

Dias asked Kinealy: "Do you not agree, given the weight that a registered mental nurse has in the prison environment, that a mistake such as that about the treatment or untreatability of someone with psychopathic personality disorder is a serious mistake?"

Kinealy replied: "You are quite correct, yes. I am sorry that I did that now."

He told the inquiry that he had acted out of "good faith", and said he had not referred Stewart to a psychiatrist because he was required to prioritise resources at Altcourse.

"There simply was not enough time or psychiatrists to see everybody who I thought had an untreatable mental condition," he said.
The inquiry heard that a report commissioned by the inquiry from Professor John Gunn, an expert psychiatrist, stated that a psychiatric referral should have been made as a result of Stewart's behaviour.

Kinealy also admitted that he "could not remember" whether or not he had read Stewart's inmate medical record Dias said the record revealed a "plethora of really disturbing behaviour" that would have led to Kinealy taking greater action. He told Kinealy: "It beggars belief that you did look at the inmate's medical record and did nothing about it."

Kinealy pointed out to the inquiry that Stewart, who is now at Woodhill Prison, had still not been transferred to a psychiatric unit.

He said: "Five years down the line, when other far better qualified people than me - consultant psychiatrists - have seen him, he is still in jail."

The inquiry continues.