A schizophrenic man who stabbed his young son to death in Sydney was delusional in the days before the killing, believing the five-year-old to be the devil, an inquest has been told.
The inquest is examining the circumstances surrounding the death of the boy, known for legal reasons as JY, who was killed by his father during a psychotic episode on June 8, 2018.
The focus of the inquest, set to run for two days, is on the medical treatment the mentally ill man sought and received in the lead up to the tragedy.
On Monday, a nurse who saw the father, along with the boy's mother and grandmother, at a Sydney mental health unit two days before the killing, was questioned over her dealings with the family in the "walk-in" consult.
The inquest was told the grandmother, in the consult, said her son believed his child was the devil as part of "bizarre thoughts" linked to his mental illness.
However, the nurse sided with the father's denials and ultimately he was deemed ineligible for involuntary admission.
Asked by counsel assisting the coroner, Donna Ward SC, whether she considered at the time the father may have minimised or denied thoughts about his son because he did not want to be admitted, the nurse said: "I did not."
"In hindsight ... (he) was most likely minimising his symptoms at the time," she said.
The nurse formed the view the father did not meet the criteria for involuntary admission without discussing it with a doctor, the inquest was told.
"I regret that," she told the inquest.
She agreed there was "significant overlap" in delusions the father had in June and a month earlier, including about the devil and religion, wanting to go to heaven and wanting to die.
The nurse rejected a suggestion that she said the father may have had to wait up to 36 hours for a bed if he presented at an emergency department, but conceded she may have referred to "bed-block".
Asked what she meant by bed-block, the nurse said: "It means that all the beds are full and there are no pending discharges."
When the man left the centre, the nurse expected him to take an increased dosage of medication and be visited soon after at his home by a mental health team.
The inquest continues on Tuesday before NSW Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan.
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