Stewart Greene was jailed for life for the murder of Alex Robinson on December 23, 2014.
A nine-year-old Lincoln boy’s drowning could have been avoided had his grandad, who was jailed for life over the death, had a less rushed discharge from a mental health ward.
Stewart Greene was angry because his daughter Joanne, 38, would not allow him to move into her home following his discharge from a psychiatric unit in Lincoln.
Joanne had urged staff not to release him due to her fears of what he might do.
Then, on December 23, 2014 whilst Joanne was out shopping, her father went on to drown her son Alex Robinson in the bath, just 12 days after his discharge. He was jailed for life.
A report by NHS England was published on Thursday, November 19 after an independent investigation into the care and treatment of Stewart Greene. He is referred to as “Mr T”.
The reports says his discharge from the mental health ward was “rushed” with “no clearly documented rationale or discussion leading to the sudden decision to discharge him”.
Mr Greene had been in and out of psychiatric units for nearly 20 years, including units provided by Lincolnshire Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and was diagnosed with a psychopathic personality disorder.
He had been threatening towards his family and trust staff in the past. He assaulted trust staff, but it would not have been possible for them to have predicted that his behaviour would escalate to the degree that it would, according to the report.
However, the investigating team did consider that there were actions that the trust staff could have taken that might have avoided him killing Alex.
The investigation team believes it would not have been possible to predict the incident, but it might have been possible to avoid it happening had he been discharged from in-patient care in a “planned and structured way with an enhanced package of care”.
The report details 13 recommendations for LPFT, as well as two for the local clinical commissioning groups, to further improve learning from this event, including in areas around discharge and transfer, and clinical response and engagement.
LPFT said it welcomed the publication of the report and all of the recommendations have been “acted upon and completed”.
Alex Robinson died on December 23, 2014.
Family reaction
After the publication of the NHS Independent Investigation, Alex’s mum Jo Greene described her son as a “vibrant, loving, and unique nine-year-old boy” and said she can “only hope lessons will truly be learnt from Alex’s death”.
She said: “We remain concerned and angry that Alex’s death was entirely preventable – had the numerous and repeated failings documented in this report not occurred.
“We know now (my dad) Stewart Greene was discharged without an adequate care plan, or even sufficient medication to keep him safe and well. That should not have happened.
“When we tried to raise serious concerns we were not listened to. That should not have happened. These failings placed our family at serious risk, and, we believe, ultimately cost Alex his life.”
LPFT response
Anita Lewin, Director of Nursing AHPs and Quality at LPFT, said: “On behalf of our trust, I would like to say how very sorry we are about Alex’s death.
“This was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts and sympathies continue to be with Jo, John and Alex’s family. No parent should ever have to experience the loss of a child and I cannot imagine the grief they continue to experience.
“We welcome the publication of today’s report, which makes a number of recommendations, all of which have been acted upon and completed.
“We note the finding in the report about the importance of listening to the views of the family and we now have a clear programme in place to support our staff to listen to family members and carers, involving them as partners in care.
“We continually seek feedback about all of our services and constantly strive to make improvements in the way we care for and treat our patients, working together with partner organisations in health and care to safely plan discharge from hospital and provide on-going support in the community.
“Whilst nothing will ever bring back Alex, we welcome the publication of today’s report and hope it goes some way towards bringing an element of closure and understanding about what happened and how we have acted to improve and learn from this terrible tragedy.”
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England will enter the next stage of its roadmap out of coronavirus lockdown on Monday, meaning non-essential retail and gyms can reopen, as well as pubs, bars and restaurants for outdoor service only.
The rules will come into play on Monday, April 12, allowing for the retail sector to open its doors for customers once again, less than two weeks after the latest lockdown easing on March 29, which meant outdoor socialising was allowed for up to six people.
Hospitality venues will be able to reopen as well, but only for outdoor service, with a full reopening planned for May 17 if COVID-19 cases continue to stay low and the vaccination programme keeps its course.
The rule of six does still remain for outdoor socialising, and people are still being asked not to meet indoors with anyone they don’t live with, unless they are part of a support bubble or legally exempt.
People are also still being asked to keep travel down to a minimum, though since March 29 it is no longer a legal requirement to stay local or at home.
The full list of new rules are:
Hairdressers and nail salons can reopen
Public buildings such as libraries and community centres can reopen
Non-essential retail (clothes shops etc) will be able to return to business
Self-contained accommodation will be able to reopen for overnight stays with your household or support bubble
Weddings, wakes and other commemorative events will be allowed up to 15 people, including inside, but wedding receptions must be outdoors
All childcare and supervised activities will be allowed indoors and outdoors for all children, this is also the case for parent and child groups
Most outdoor attractions (zoos, theme parks, drive-in performances) will be able to reopen
Care home residents will be able to have two named individuals for regular indoor visits (so long as they have a negative lateral flow test)
Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable, Kerrin Wilson, said: “Lockdown has hit practically every aspect of life as we know it, and perhaps the hardest part has been not being able to connect with family and friends in person.
“The easing of restrictions will come as a great relief to many, and I hope the new rules, which afford us the chance to socialise safely as well as get back to doing some of the things we all took for granted, will contribute to a feeling of wellbeing for us all.
“While many of you will already be busy making plans, some of you may feel a sense of nervousness or worry about society opening back up, and we want to assure you that we are still here to protect you and enforce the rules when needed.
“The easing of restrictions does not mean that lockdown has lifted completely. It is a journey that we are all on, and to enable later restrictions to be lifted in June we must all do our bit to continue to follow the rules now.
Legal limits on the number of people allowed to gather at one time remain in place, social distancing must be maintained, and masks worn in public settings such as shops or public transport to keep yourself and everyone else safe. Let’s continue to be sensible and watch out for each other.”
Meanwhile, to help with keeping cases low, free rapid asymptomatic tests can be ordered at home. Here are the details.