A mental health hospital in Walsall has stepped up security measures after a suicidal patient was found dead in a lift shaft.

Mohammed Matloob died of asphyxiation after his neck chain and clothing got caught in machinery at Dorothy Pattison Hospital in Walsall, an inquest jury heard.

Mr Matloob, 26, of Lincoln Road, Chuckery, Walsall, was found wedged between the lift car and the wall of the lift shaft after hospital staff heard his cries on December 26, 2009.

On the first day of an inquest at Smethwick Council House, Black Country coroner heard firefighters, who tried in vain to save Mr Matloob, say they could not understand how he had got into the area where his body was found.

The jury heard staff nurse Karen Cox tell how the mood of Mr Matloob, in hospital voluntarily with borderline personality, darkened suddenly around 6.45pm and he told her: “I don’t feel well. I feel like smashing up the ward.”

Mr Matloob, whose sudden mood swings had led him to threaten suicide before, asked for a piece of paper so he could write a letter in which he said he wanted to apologise to his family for his behaviour.

He said he wanted to go outside for a cigarette, but Miss Cox raised the alarm when he instead got into a lift.

“He said 'I’m not coming out'. He said 'read the letter',” Miss Cox recalled. Another member of staff tore open the letter and found it was a suicide note.

Dr Mark Weaver, senior medical manager at Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust, said a sweeping review of security had been carried out since the tragedy.

He added an electronic pass was required to gain access to lifts and that staff would always be “in close attendance”.

(Proceeding)