A PSYCHOLOGIST has spoken of her shock after discovering a client had been arrested and illegally removed from a secure mental health unit and taken to a police station, where she later died.

Dr Karin Laudin said the correct procedures had not been followed before Moyra Stockill was taken from St Luke’s Hospital, Middlesbrough, to the town’s police station in December 2003.

Hours later, the 61-year-old, of Sherburn, North Yorkshire, was found dead after she stuffed toilet tissue down her throat.

Alan Milligan, from the Mental Health Act Commission, asked Dr Laudin if she knew that the legal requirements needed for a hospitalised patient sectioned under the Mental Health Act could be removed.

He said: “Would you agree that she could only lawfully leave the hospital with a Section 17 Order and that they can only be granted by a patient’s responsible medical officer (RMO)?”

Dr Laudin, who was Mrs Stockill’s RMO, replied yes.

The inquest heard that the rules could only be varied for a medical emergency.

The inquest earlier heard that a senior nurse called the police and was not authorised to sanction Mrs Stockill’s removal from the secure ward.

Giving evidence at Teesside Coroner’s Court, Dr Laudin said: “I remember feeling quite taken aback and shocked that Mrs Stockill had been taken to a police station.

“My impression was that she had assaulted a police officer and had been arrested.”

When asked if she contacted the police to ensure they understood Mrs Stockill’s medical needs, Dr Laudin said: “I thought the information would have been passed on at the time of the arrest and the police would be aware.

“There was a senior nurse who could have given the information.

She (Mrs Stockill) was someone who had been taken from a secure unit and was someone that was not usually left on her own.”

The inquest continues.