Matthew Caseby: Priory Healthcare admits failing over patient death

James Marsland, prosecuting for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), told Friday’s hearing that the case was being brought for the failings in Mr Caseby’s care, rather than that it caused his death.

He said other patients had absconded from the ward on previous occasions.

“There was a courtyard which service users were able to access,” Mr Marsland said.

“Part of the perimeter was a fence which at its shortest was 2.3m tall.”

The case centred on the firm’s failure to adequately assess the risk, amounting to a failure to provide safe treatment.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Caseby’s father Richard said his ability to grieve was stunted for years by Priory Healthcare’s attempts to “hide the facts” about his son’s death and “evade accountability for its gross failures”.

The London-based firm will be sentenced later and faces an unlimited fine.