Portsmouth man found dead with wife near hammer after 'early' release from psychiatric hospital

Oliver Stone-Houghton slammed NHS mental health authorities and said his father Christopher Stone-Houghton 'wasn't well enough to return home'.

Mr Stone-Houghton, 66, had become mentally unwell when the Covid-19 pandemic led to his jewellery business closing down and was later sectioned.

Less than two months after his surprise release from a psychiatric hospital, Mr Stone-Houghton was found dead at home with his wife Ruth Stone-Houghton, 60.

An inquest has now heard Mr Stone-Houghton was found hanged and Mrs Stone-Houghton was found on the bedroom floor 'covered with a bloody bedsheet with a hammer nearby'.

Their son Oliver told Portsmouth Coroner's Court that his father should never have been discharged and he was 'taken aback in shock and disbelief' when he was released.

Oliver said the consequences of the early discharge 'have been disastrous'. Mr and Mrs Stone-Houghton were found dead at their home in Portsmouth in September 2022.

Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard that the family's jewellery business in Petersfield had been forced to close during the pandemic.

Opening the inquest, Assistant coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, Rachel Spearing, said: “Following a concern for welfare both for Ruth and her husband, friends and neighbours attended their address in Holcot Lane, Portsmouth.

“Just after 10 in the morning, and after entering the property with a spare key, Ruth’s husband was located in the hallway. Ruth was located on the bedroom floor covered with a bloody bedsheet with a hammer nearby.”

The coroner added that ‘a handwritten note was found’ which was ‘believed to have been written by Christopher, her husband’.

Mrs Spearing said that the jeweller had no history of mental health issues before April 2022, when he experienced ‘a deterioration of his mental health’.

“Following an intentional self harm incident on the 4th of July 2022, this led to Chris being detained under the mental health act and that took place during July 2022 after which he was released early August and discharged to the in home treatment team,” she said.

“Ruth and her family had concerns regarding the discharge.”

Giving evidence at the inquest, the couple's son Oliver spoke on behalf of himself and the couple’s other adult child, Abigail Stone-Houghton.

He said: “The circumstances of our parents’ deaths are truly and utterly tragic, and without fault on their part.

“Dad was incapable of inflicting harm, as everyone who knew him agreed.”

Speaking about the treatment his dad received, Mr Stone-Houghton said in a statement read out by the coroner: “Out of experience as a family, the whole system of care for mental health services wasn’t fit for purpose, due to being critically over stretched and under resourced.”

On May 5 2022 he made a referral for his dad to Talking Change, which at the time was the primary care mental health service for Portsmouth, provided by Solent NHS Trust.

He followed up on May 25, asking Talking Change what had happened with the referral, and he was shocked to hear that the case had been closed.

It was their 'policy' to do so if they didn't hear back from the person who had been referred in five days, the court heard.

On 26 May, his father had a GP appointment, and Mr Stone-Houghton believes that 'warning signs were missed by the doctor', which he found 'very concerning'.

In June, his father admitted he was suicidal.

A doctor then diagnosed him with psychotic depression, and suggested that he should be put on an anti psychotic and an antidepressant.

Mr Stone-Houghton's father only agreed to take a low dose of antidepressants, which themselves he was reluctant to take.

He later admitted that he was not taking his medication, Mirtazapine.

The father of two seriously harmed himself on July 4, and was subsequently sectioned.

He went under psychiatric care at St James Hospital in Portsmouth, where Mr Stone-Houghton believed communication was 'appalling'.

He said ‘In our experience, communication overall was extremely poor’.

Mr Stone-Houghton said: "When the section was removed later that month, there was no consultation with us whatsoever.

"It was Dad who told us.

"We were completely taken aback in shock and disbelief."

The family expressed 'concern that Dad wasn't well enough to return home', but were told by a doctor that this was the best option for him.

Mr Stone-Houghton said: "We felt strongly that love could only go so far.

"I was worried about Dad taking his medication consistently."

Mr Stone-Houghton's dad had shown some improvement while in hospital, which Mr Stone-Houghton believed was due to the fact that he would take his medication regularly there.

The family were told, he said, that 'there were no issues with Dad taking [medication] in the hospital, so this wasn't something they were concerned about'.

Mr Stone-Houghton said: "Dad should never have been discharged so early in his treatment, which was made clear at the time, and the consequences have been disastrous."

Mr Stone-Houghton's father was due to have a cognitive behavioural therapy appointment on September 12, but this did not take place.

He told the inquest: "Dad had to ring the service to find out it had been rescheduled on the 14th September.

"No explanation was given."

The couple died that day.

The coroner said that the NHS trusts represented at the hearing did not agree with everything Mr Stone-Houghton said in his statement regarding his father’s treatment.

Solent NHS Trust and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust were the names of the trusts which now fall under the Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Trust.

Paying tribute to the couple, Mr Stone-Houghton said they were ‘looking forward to their retirement’ and the ‘prospect of growing the family’ with grandchildren.

He said: “Mum was the love of Dad’s life, and he was the love of hers.

“They spent over three decades dedicated to each other and us, their children.

“Mum was of course a victim, but only as a direct result of Dad’s mental ill health and the way in which it was managed.”

Mr Stone-Houghton said that it was ‘too hard to put into words how much we miss our Mum and Dad’.

He added: “We don’t need to ‘remember the good times’, as there isn’t anything else to remember.”

Family and friends described the couple’s relationship as ‘very loving’ and ‘close’, and they did not believe there was a ‘risk of harm to Ruth’.

The inquest continues.