Leo Barnes inquest: Man accused of killing Cynthia Beamond 'could hide his symptoms' of depression
A forensic psychiatrist who saw Leo Barnes, the man accused of bludgeoning a pensioner to death, in the weeks before his suicide has said 'he could hide his symptoms'.
Dr Dinesh Maganty was answering questions about Barnes at an inquest at Stourport yesterday.
Barnes was found dead in his cell at HMP Hewell. He had been due to be cross-examined in his trial over the death of 80-year-old Halesowen grandmother Cynthia Beamond.
The inquest has heard he was not on suicide watch at the time of his death while he was held at HMP Hewell, despite concerns over his mental state and accounts that he previously made a noose.
The consultant forensic psychatrist Dr Maganty said that when he first saw Barnes on January 6, 2015, he was in the segregation ward at HMP Hewell and 'he denied making the noose'.
He said: "With others who are depressed it is much more straight forward.
"We can see there is certain behaviour, they can't hide the symptoms, they can't hide the difficulties. That would not be the case with Mr Barnes. He could hide his symptoms."
He added: "Mr Barnes was by any stretch of the imagination not what you could describe as normal."
Dr Maganty says that he identified two key concerns - that Barnes wasn't sleeping and that he said he had 'nowhere to hide', which referred to shouting and taunts from others through the walls and pipes.
"While I was there I also noticed that there was shouting," said Dr Maganty.
Due to this Dr Maganty directed Barnes should be prescribed sleeping pills and moved to the healthcare unit.
However he did not conclude that Barnes needed to be put under constant supervision as a suicide risk.
The doctor who says in his profession he has assessed many homicide prisoners, explained that it is usually at the point of cross-examination in their trial that they are most at risk of suicide.
"If you accept that the prosecution case was correct, under those circumstances at that point where he loses face, when his account falls apart, that would be the trigger."
The doctor was also questioned over evidence that came to light in the hearing, that 33-year-old Barnes had made comments about committing suicide to those at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Dr Maganty admitted that had information come back from the court that Barnes had said those words, another mental health assessment would have taken place.
The inquest continues.
