Flint Castle hanging after 'police turned man away'

A man with long-standing mental health problems was found hanged at Flint Castle after police refused to help, an inquest heard.

Jury members were told how Joshua Hamill, 24, from Northampton, suffered from ADHD, depression and anxiety but after his partner called police, they "sent him on his way".

The Ruthin inquest heard how he was found dead the next day, 5 June 2016.

Previously, he had tried to hang and drown himself and taken overdoses.

While he was "boosted" after meeting new partner Emily Johnstone, from Holywell, Flintshire, his father Alexander Hamill told the inquest he was "crying out for help".

He said: "He'd get so frustrated".

"He was being shunted from one department to another. He didn't know how to cope."

Self-harming

A community mental health nurse from Northampton, Gemma Foster, who had been involved in his care, said "anger, conflict and alcohol" all prompted his self-harming.

Ms Johnstone said she had asked police to take him away and keep him safe, after he made threats to kill himself during a disagreement at a pub the night before he died.

Mr Hamill had come to Flint to visit her. She was pregnant with their child and was staying in the town.

"I went over and told the police about all the mental health problems he suffered from," she said.

"Josh was on a bench outside the pub, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I told them he needed to go to a police station to get sober and to think straight and come to himself."

But she told jurors a police officer said his behaviour was not enough to get him arrested.

"In Northampton, he would have been dealt with and got treatment. I assumed that would happen in this case," she added.

Ms Johnstone described how a police officer said "people who say they are going to do it don't do it".

Mr Hamill was found dead at Flint Castle the next morning by a member of the public.

The inquest continues.