Man killed by being strangled and set alight at Highgate Mental health centre by fellow patient was ‘let down by staff’
A MAN was killed after being strangled and then set alight by a fellow patient on a “rogue" mental health ward, a court has heard.
Carl Thorpe, 46, was “badly let down by staff” at Highgate Mental Health Centre, who failed to prevent the brutal killing on Coral Ward, jurors heard.
His killer, Jordan Bramble, 22, was supposed to have been kept under constant watch by staff at the secure mental-health unit in North London.
Mr Thorpe suffered from schizophrenia and had only been admitted to the mental-health centre on February 1 last year.
Just two days later, at 6.27am, staff found him dead after spotting smoke and flames in his room.
Mr Thorpe was still wrapped in a sheet set alight when his unresponsive body was pulled out.
Twenty-two-year-old Bramble confessed to the killing, saying he disliked Mr Thorpe because he was gay.
Speaking at the Old Bailey, a prosecutor said the 46-year-old endured injuries on his face and head, and a "forceful prolonged compression of the neck".
He said: "Efforts had also been made to burn parts of his body.";
CCTV footage from the morning of the killing showed Bramble, who has paranoid schizophrenia, pushing Mr Thorpe into the room and following him inside.
Jurors heard that the defendant had a history of violence.
He had broken the nose of a staff member and attacked a sleeping patient during his time in various mental health units from 2014 to 2018.
Prosecutor Julian Evans said a member of staff was supposed to keep an eye on him at all times, but "that level of observation simply did not happen".
He described Mr Thorpe as a "vulnerable" man who had been "very badly let down" by the institution.
The jury decided the 22-year-old, who was unfit to stand trial, carried out the attack on Mr Thorpe.
He is currently at Broadmoor Hospital, and faces being detained under the Mental Health Act for an unlimited amount of time.
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Hossein Zahir QC, defending, said the staff at the hospital were employed on a “rogue ward” to a night shift “wholly out of control”.
Speaking to the BBC, the Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust announced a "comprehensive disciplinary investigation" had been carried out following Mr Thorpe's death, "which resulted in two nurses and two healthcare assistants being dismissed".
It added: "This was an isolated incident of completely unacceptable failures in professional practice and conduct and we are deeply sorry that we did not provide a safe and protective environment to these vulnerable patients in our care."