Psychiatrist ‘should not have released gunman’ who later murdered a man

Another data point in assessing the general competence and actual exprtise of psychiatrists around the world. As seen in the Lancashire Telegraph

A consultant psychiatrist has been accused of serious professional misconduct for discharging a patient who later shot a man dead.

Dr Shashank Chattree gave permission for Mark Harrington to be discharged from Queen's Park Hospital in October 2001, a hearing of the General Medical Council was told yesterday.

Less than three months later, Harrington, 18, went to the home of Anthony Rigby in Swift Close, Larkhill, Blackburn, and shot his childhood friend once in the head.

Dr Chattree's conduct was liable to put members of the public at risk, was not in the best interests of patients and ran contrary to the clinical evidence available, the hearing was told.

Dr Chattree denies the allegations.

Bernadette Baxter, for the GMC, said before Harrington was released from hospital he had asked a nurse: "Has anyone ever left here and gone and murdered anyone?"

She also said that Harrington had also attacked a nurse with a weight inside a sock, striking her over the head in a bid to escape from his mental health ward.

Ms Baxter, representing the GMC, said that before the patient was released from the ward at Queen's Park Hospital, Harrington had informed Dr Chattree that he would not take anti-psychotic medication voluntarily while at home.

But the doctor still signed his release forms, the GMC hearing was told.

Dr Chattree is also accused of failing to properly monitor and manage Harrington in the community, despite the concerns of fellow health professionals.

The hearing in Manchester referred to Harrington as Patient A. In September 2002, Harrington was detained in a mental unit indefinitely after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Preston Crown Court at the time was told that Harrington had drawn up a hitlist of people he wanted to kill and that Anthony, who was shot in the back of the head two days before his 19th birthday, was number one on it.

Harrington was sectioned and admitted to Ward F4 at Queen's Park under Dr Chattree's care on June 30, 2001. He had diagnosed Harrington as schizophrenic, the hearing was told.

Dr Simon Plunkett, a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Harrington before his release, said he noticed that the patient still had residual paranoid symptoms and was unlikely to take medication if discharged, the hearing heard.

Dr Plunkett believed he presented a further risk of relapse and had an ongoing fascination with knives and weaponry, and access to a Samurai sword, the hearing was told.

Harrington needed a "high level of community support", according to the doctor.

Anthony's mother Carole Rigby also gave a statement to the hearing.

She said that Anthony and his friends were all scared of Harrington.

Mrs Rigby said that an independent inquiry had been conducted after Anthony's death during which she was told that she would be able to complain about Dr Chattree's conduct.

She later wrote to the GMC to make a formal complaint.