Adam Withers died after falling to the ground at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey. The 20-year-old man was a psychiatric patient who thought he was Jesus. Adam told staff he wished to climb a ladder that had been placed on the side of the chimney. The Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust admitted failing in its duty of care the 20-year-old man.
A psychiatric patient who ‘thought he was Jesus’ died from the injuries he sustained after falling to the ground at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey.
Adam Withers
Adam Withers, 20, who was sectioned under the Mental Health after he displayed ‘paranoid tendencies’ after smoking cannabis and dropping out of university, scaled the tower, before plunging to the ground, sustaining severe head injuries.
After a two-week investigation into Adam’s death, the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust admitted failing in its duty of caring for the 20-year-old man.
The 20-year-old was a psychiatric patient at Epson General Hospital
Woking Coroner’s Court heard how Adam was placed in psychiatric care after he tried to kill one of his sisters because he thought she was the devil and how the young man told staff he wished to climb a ladder that had been placed on the side of the chimney.
The inquest heard Adam was among several patients on the area who had escaped by climbing over the roof beside the chimney.
However nothing had been done to make the ward more secure and no additional steps were put in place to protect Adam on the day of his death, the inquest heard.
The man plunged to his death from the chimney
Following the inquest, the jury ruled Adam did not intend to take his own life but had ‘noticed some light glistening on the tower’ and ‘received a message from God and had to climb it’.
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust admitted one count of breaching general duty of care by an employer to someone other than an employee.
