Man was abandoned by health trust, say brothers

The brothers of a man who died within weeks of being released from a mental health centre have said he was "abandoned" by an NHS trust.

Barnaby Spicer died after he was released from Redwoods Centre in Shrewsbury in November 2024 without a community treatment order.

The 45-year-old had a history of psychosis and had been violent towards himself and others when he was not on his medication, his family said.

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who runs the centre, said they have launched an internal inquiry and offered their condolences to the family.

Luke and Greg Spicer said their brother started to have psychosis in his 20s, which became worse over time.

He had been treated by the trust, who had put him under a community treatment order for more than 15 years, until his release from the Shrewsbury centre in 2024.

Within a week of being released, the 45-year-old had assaulted an officer before later turning up at a homeless centre in Shrewsbury, covered in faeces.

Luke Spicer wrote to the mental health trust over his concerns for the safety of his brother and others around him.

"It was sent on 4 December saying if you don't treat Barney better, he will end up dead - those were my exact words - and ten days later he was dead," he said.

The brothers said they saw similarities between their brothers case and that of Valdo Calocane, who fatally stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar before killing caretaker Ian Coates in Nottingham in 2023.

"Barney wasn't violent a person," Greg Spicer said.

"But when he wasn't taking his medication he could be violent and he had assaulted several people.

"I am furious. If they had done their job properly, my brother would not be dead."

The family has now made a plea for a coroner in Shropshire to hold an article 2 inquest, broadening the reach of the process.

"Why wasn't he on a community treatment order?" Greg Spicer said.

"Every other time he had been discharged from hospital he was.

"If he had been, then when he didn't take his medication, they had the power to readmit him.

"They just abandoned him."

Managing director of the trust, Cathy Riley, said that she wished to express her condolences to the family at this difficult time.

She said colleagues are supporting the family through the complaints process.

"Arrangements for an internal review into the care of Mr Spicer have begun and the family will be engaged in the outcome of the review once it is complete," she said.

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