A psychiatrist claimed that he would have been shocked to learn that the man who later killed two people was taken to the hospital alone without any police support.
The senior doctor testified at the inquest into the deaths of Michael and Marjorie Cawdery that she would have been shocked had Thomas Scott McEntee been released from the hospital at that point.
The couple was killed in May 2017 by McEntee, a person with paranoid schizophrenia.
At home, they were stabbed.
After admitting guilt to two counts of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, McEntee received a sentence of at least 10 years in prison.
Elizabeth Williamson, a senior mental health professional, testified at the inquest that while employed at Daisy Hill Hospital's acute mental health unit in Newry, she gave McEntee "mental health first aid.".
The inquest heard on Thursday that McEntee was handcuffed, hit by police, and put down outside Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry, but they did not arrest him.
Later that day, he killed the 83-year-old couple Mr. and Mrs. Cawdery.
Ms. Williamson claimed that despite having no prior acquaintance with McEntee, she could tell that he was ill. .
In order to avoid having him end up in Daisy Hill Hospital's emergency room, she advised that he might need psychiatric intensive care and that paramedics should take him to a secure psychiatric facility at Craigavon Area Hospital. .
She said: "He was very disturbed, he had been handcuffed by the police, his behavior was going to be unpredictable, and I did believe after his assessment he would have needed a bed in a secure psychiatric unit or intensive psychiatric care.".
The Bluestone psychiatric unit at Craigavon was contacted by Ms. Williamson, who claims to have almost 50 years of experience working in the mental health field, to inquire about the availability of beds. .
She "couldn't recall" telling the police about this, but when questioned about it, she admitted that they might not have known.
The ambulance could transport him to Craigavon, according to my justification. Ms. Williamson remarked.
He could have been examined physically and psychologically to determine whether or not he required a bed because the ambulance was returning to Craigavon. " .
Nobody questioned her regarding that choice, she added.
The subject of who was in charge—the police or the medical staff—was brought up for the second day in a row. .
Ms. Williamson claimed that even though they were permitted to take care of McEntee's mental health, she believed the police were in charge of the scene and saw her intervention as more of "a good Samaritan role.". .
She was asked what she would have thought if she had known that McEntee had been given permission to leave after being turned over to the emergency room at Craigavon and that the police had not been present.
"I'd have been shocked," she replied.
"I thought the police would follow the paramedics and stay with the man until the medical staff evaluated him," the man said.
"[Police] couldn't leave him because there was a chance he would act out again. " .
PC Mark Riddell, who initially assisted in holding McEntee at Daisy Hill Hospital, also testified.
He added that the mental health staff were aware of him and that he assumed they would refer McEntee to the Bluestone (psychiatric unit) because he believed that was where he would be taken.
He replied, "I don't know," when asked who was in charge of the scene. .
That, he concurred, was "not satisfactory.".
The investigation is ongoing.
