The Priory healthcare group has been charged with two criminal offences over the death of a 23-year-old man who was hit by a train after absconding from a mental health hospital.
Matthew Caseby, a personal trainer from London, died in September 2020 after jumping over a low fence while unattended in a courtyard at the Priory Woodbourne hospital in Birmingham, three days after being admitted.
He had been sectioned as an NHS patient under the Mental Health Act after being found running along a railway line and telling doctors he was hearing voices.
The UK’s health regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), launched an investigation into Matthew’s care last year and has charged the Priory Group with two criminal offences under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
The company is charged with failing to take all reasonable steps to stop a patient from being exposed to avoidable harm and exposing a patient to a significant risk of harm. The penalty for the offences is an unlimited fine.
Matthew’s father, Richard Caseby, who campaigned for a prosecution, said: “These have been long, hard years since Matthew died.
“I am relieved that the Priory Group is finally being held accountable and the CQC is prosecuting the company for offences associated with the death of my son.
“But the proceedings bring no satisfaction. A trial just prolongs the day when my family can grieve Matthew’s loss quietly and privately.”
Earlier this year, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it was investigating the response of West Midlands police after Matthew went missing, when his case was classified as medium- rather than high-risk.
Matthew, who had a first-class degree in history from Birmingham University, began seeing a counsellor in 2019 and his mental health deteriorated during lockdown.
His family described him as “a beautiful, gentle and intelligent young man whose ambition was to help everyone live a better life through exercise”.
The Priory Group confirmed it was subject to live proceedings and representatives will appear at Birmingham magistrates court for a plea hearing on 24 November.
Following a similar case in September, the mental health care provider Cygnet Health Care was fined £1,530,000 after pleading guilty to a charge brought by the CQC following the death of a young woman who took her life while a resident at Cygnet hospital Ealing.
The CQC said Cygnet Ealing “were aware of the woman trying to harm herself in an almost identical way four months earlier, yet they failed to mitigate the known environmental risk she was exposed to”.
A CQC spokesperson said: “We are taking criminal enforcement action against Priory Healthcare Limited for failing to provide safe care and treatment resulting in avoidable harm to a patient at Woodbourne Priory hospital, a mental health service in Edgbaston, Birmingham and/or exposing the patient to a significant risk of avoidable harm.”
