AN inquest into the death of anti-violence campaigner Pat Regan heard her killer, grandson Rakeim Regan, had been arrested on suspicion of burglary just days before he fatally stabbed her.
Rakeim, 21, was taken to Weetwood Police Station, following a suspected burglary.
He was assessed by Dr Sabhir Manthri to determine whether he was fit for questioning as he was behaving “bizarrely”.
Dr Manthri said when he first saw him, on the evening of Thursday, May 29, at around 9.30pm, Rakeim was agitated and rambling and speaking incoherently. Dr Manthri told the hearing in Leeds: “I thought he may be under the influence of intoxicants due to his bizarre behaviour. He was not drunk.”
He saw him eight hours later at 5.45am on the Friday when he deemed Rakeim fit to be questioned: “He was alert and orientated and said he had slept well. His state of mind was much improved.”
As a precaution, Dr Manthri contacted the crisis resolution team at the Becklin Centre, the mental health unit in Leeds, to check if Rakeim had any history of mental illness, but was told there was no previous record.
Rakeim was questioned by police and released at lunchtime. It later transpired Rakeim had known the occupants of the house he was suspected of breaking into, and said he had simply been gaining entry.
The inquest had earlier heard how Rakeim’s family, including grandmother Pat and her nephew Anthony Johnson, had witnessed how Rakeim’s behaviour deteriorated and they tried to help him.
They both became increasingly concerned for his state of mind. Mr Johnson had previously told the inquest that they had wanted him to be sectioned for his own good, so they took him to hospital, but were told there was no mental health beds available.
Later that day, following his release, Mrs Regan had called their family GP, Dr David Watson, for a home visit as she was concerned about Rakeim’s behaviour. Dr Watson referred him to the crisis referral unit at 4.45pm on Friday, May 30, when he was treated as a priority case.
But the specialist mental health team did not manage to see him and in desperation his grandmother took him to A&E at St James’s Hospital, where he was assessed but advised to go home, and given a sleeping tablet. They were promised he would be seen the following day when someone would go out to his home.
The inquest earlier heard that Rakeim had smoked cannabis from the age of 11.
Proceeding