The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has apologised after admitting multiple care failings linked to the fatal strangling of 63-year-old Richard Laversuch by 18-year-old Owen Herbert at Parklands Hospital in November 2021. The trust accepted five failures, including the absence of a risk assessment, inadequate staffing, poor record-keeping and communication breakdowns, and that Herbert should have been placed in a PICU. Herbert had reportedly believed he was "in a game" and attempted to strangle another patient minutes before Laversuch was killed. Herbert received an indefinite hospital order in 2023; the inquest into the death is ongoing.
NHS Trust Apologises After Failings Led To Fatal Strangling On Low‑Risk Psychiatric Ward
Parklands Hospital was run at the time of the killing by Southern Health [BBC]
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has apologised after admitting multiple care failures that preceded the fatal strangling of 63-year-old Richard Laversuch by 18-year-old Owen Herbert at Parklands Hospital in Basingstoke on 27 November 2021.
Trust Accepts Failures and Issues Apology
Giving evidence at an inquest hearing in Winchester, Donna Greenwood, the trust's director of quality and professions, apologised for what she described as "gaps in our care". She told the Laversuch family: "Richard should have been safe on our wards and he wasn't." She also addressed Herbert's parents, saying: "Owen should have been safe in our care... the trust is very sorry."
Failures Identified
The trust accepted five specific failings related to Herbert's admission and care. These included:
Laversuch "should have been safe on our wards", the NHS director said [Family photo]
- Failure to carry out a risk assessment on admission;
- Insufficient staffing on the ward;
- Poorly completed pre-admission records;
- Communication breakdowns around the decision to place Herbert on a lower-risk ward;
- Not admitting Herbert to a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) as national standards would have recommended.
How Events Unfolded
Evidence at the inquest said Herbert arrived "unexpectedly" while the PICU was full. Staff on a lower‑risk ward felt obliged to accept him despite warnings at the start of their shift that he was "too high-risk". The jury heard that staff admitted him without notifying on-call managers of the situation. Minutes before Laversuch was killed, Herbert had reportedly attempted to strangle another patient; when staff investigated that report they found Herbert in bed and did not identify him as the assailant.
Legal Outcome and Service Changes
In 2023 Herbert pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was given an indefinite hospital order. Parklands Hospital was run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust at the time of the killing; in 2024 services were reorganised and are now provided by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The inquest into Laversuch's death is ongoing.
Coroner's Question: When asked if the identified failures "caused or contributed" to Mr Laversuch's death, the trust's director replied: "Yes."
The trust has said it has made changes in response to the incident, and the inquest continues to examine the full circumstances surrounding the admission, supervision and management of patients on the ward.
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