Priory Group fined £650k over death of personal trainer killed by train after escaping from mental health hospital

A CARE provider has been fined £650,000 over the death of a 23-year-old who escaped from a mental health hospital.

Matthew Caseby was struck by a train after he absconded from the Priory Hospital Woodbourne in Birmingham in September 2020.

The Priory Group was charged under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 last year.

The group, which is one of the largest private mental health care providers in the UK, today admitted breaching the 2008 Health and Social Care Act.

Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard it failed to provide safe care and treatment "resulting in Matthew and other service users being exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm".

It has been fined £650,000 and ordered to pay costs of £43,672.65 after the charge was brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

In a victim impact statement, Matthew's dad, Richard Caseby, said: "Five days before his death, Matthew had been diagnosed as suffering from a psychotic episode.

"He had lost contact with reality."

Tragic end

The dad also praised his son, who had a first-class history degree from Birmingham University, as a sensitive, gentle and intelligent soul.

Mr Caseby told how his ability to grieve had been stunted for years by the group's attempts to "hide the facts" about his son's death and "evade accountability for its gross failures."

He also told said the firm "had been dragged kicking and screaming" to face hard evidence of its shortcomings and blasted them as "calculating, cruel and fundamentally dangerous".

Mr Caseby said his son had died needlessly and in the aftermath, Priory Healthcare had made the family's lives "indescribably more painful".

Matthew was detained by Thames Valley Police in Oxford after suffering a mental health crisis on September 3, 2020.

The personal trainer was sent to the Priory Hospital in Birmingham two days later.

He absconded by jumping over a low fence in the facility’s gardens and was later hit by a train.

An inquest into Matthew's death heard the hospital carried out “inadequate” risk assessments, which allowed him to leave the facility with ease.

Hospital 'failings'

He had been left unattended in a courtyard for about five minutes when he scaled the fence, which was so low he could grab the top of it without even standing on tiptoe.

An inquest jury returned a narrative verdict, saying neglect had contributed to his death.

The court was told today other patients had absconded from the ward on previous occasions.

CQC barrister James Marsland said: "There was a courtyard (on the ward) which service users were able to access.

"Part of the perimeter was a fence which at its shortest was 2.3 metres tall.

"The prosecution say that they failed to provide safe care and treatment in that they failed to properly assess the risk.

"The prosecution do not suggest that the defendant is to be sentenced on the basis that it has caused the death of Matthew."

The Priory Group, famous for its celebrity clientele, previously confirmed it was subject to live court proceedings.

Paul Greaney KC, on behalf of the group, told the court lessons had been learned - including surrounding the fence, which has been heightened with ant-climb bars installed.

He said: "It is a fact that the company was working hard to address the issue.

"It certainly was not a company that didn't care."

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 16123.