Michael Bryn Jones inquest hears 'golden hour' opportunity to find him was 'missed'

Opportunities were “missed” in a search to find a mental health patient found dead in woodland 80 days after leaving the hospital he had gone to for help, a coroner has said.

An inquest at Caernarfon today heard how Michael Bryn Jones, 38, had left his home in Pleasant Street, Llandudno, on Saturday, April 2, last year taking the last bus of the evening to Bangor and then getting a taxi to the Hergest mental health unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor.

At 12.54am he was sent from the unit to the hospital’s emergency department, arriving at 1.23am – but left two minutes later without booking in or speaking to anyone – but what happened in the following two hours remains a mystery.

North Wales Police Chief Inspector Mark Armstrong told the inquest that CCTV images showed Mr Jones leaving the hospital site at 3.20am on Sunday, April 3, and turning left.

Chief Insp Armstrong said Mr Jones had then been seen walking along the A55 “towards Anglesey” as well as in the direction of Llandudno and on the A55 back towards Bangor and towards Llys y Gwynt (One Stop).

However, the last sighting of Mr Jones was at 5.57am when he was seen walking towards Llandudno by a couple passing in a car who decided to stop. The man had a high-visibility jacket which might have “spooked” Mr Jones, he said, who then disappeared.

Police, rescue groups and his family carried out extensive searches for Mr Jones who had tried to take his own life five times previously.

The gardener and former chef was eventually found hanging by children who were building a den in dense woods at Caerhun near Bangor at 6.40pm on June 21.

North Wales assistant coroner Nicola Jones said that there had been “a missed opportunity” after Mr Jones had been sent from the Hergest unit to the emergency department.

Mrs Jones said: “Had there then been a call . . . there could have been a more effective search for him.

She said: “It may be he’s been walking around the (hospital) grounds in an erratic way. He was on the grounds for three hours.”

She added: “There was more than a golden hour here wasn’t there. He was here until 3.20am.”

Chief Insp Armstrong said what happened to Mr Jones after the sighting at 5.57am was “a mystery.”

The court heard previously that on March 21 Mr Jones had been brought to the hospital after taking tablets.

He was assessed on March 23 by psychiatric nurses on Beuno ward in Ysbyty Gwynedd and seen again by a doctor on March 24.

On April 1, he walked into the sea off Llandudno and was driven by police to Ysbyty Gwynedd.

It is believed he may have then walked back home to Llandudno.

The inquest continues.