A PSYCHIATRIC patient who slit his throat with a razor blade had tried to kill himself only weeks before his death, an inquest was told.

Jason Walker wrote suicide notes before taking an overdose of 50 tablets and wounding his thumb on a cup as he attempted to cut his wrists and throat.

But the precise details of his failed bid to end his life on April 25 2007 were not written down in notes passed on to medics at the Stephenson Unit at the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton where he died.

He had been an inpatient on the psychiatric ward in 2002 and 2003 and was frightened about going back, Teesside Coroner's Court heard today.

Sheila Arthur, a mental health community nurse who had supported Mr Walker since 2004 said: "The thought of going into hospital was his worst nightmare as he felt he would be abandoned there.

"After long stays at the unit in 2002 and 2003 he expressed fears about going back. He was worried about spending a long time there again."

Mrs Arthur said she believed she would have told the ward manager at the Stephenson Unit about the specifics of his suicide attempt but in medical notes only wrote that he had overdosed and cut his thumb.

When he was admitted he was classed as being at "medium" risk of immediate self harm and was put under close observation, monitored once at least every 15 minutes.

The 34-year-old from Yarm near Stockton had been seen by mental health professionals since 1994 was diagnosed as a schizophrenic.

By January 2007 he had suicidal thoughts and was convinced that his partner, Jane Bradley believed that he was a terrorist and a paedophile.

When Mr Walker and Ms Bradley requested a second opinion about his condition, Dr Stephen Humphries, a consultant psychiatrist said he could be suffering from an extreme form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Mr Walker was weaned off his medication after being given the warning that if the new diagnosis was not correct the anti-psychotic medication would have to be reintroduced.

Despite initially at first appearing optimistic and relaxed within two months his condition had rapidly deteriorated.

Mrs Arthur accompanied Mr Walker when he asked to have a haircut on May 15 2007.

Although he appeared "flat" she said she did not consider him to be suicidal.

But the next day she was telephoned to say he had been found dead in bed on the Stephenson Ward.

"If I had suspected any increased risk I would have reported this," she said.

The inquest continues.