INCREASING numbers of mentally ill people in York are facing prison due to a lack of support available through the NHS, a solicitor has said.

John Howard, a solicitor working in criminal law in the city, said mentally unwell people are becoming involved in the criminal justice system after struggling to get help.

The Press has been told of one man with a manic disorder being remanded in custody in Hull Prison after he is believed to have committed a crime in the hope of being sectioned.

Mr Howard said: "Generally I think it's fair to say that since the closing of Bootham Park Hospital there has been an increase in people becoming involved in the criminal justice system rather than being treated in the mental health institutions, in particular Bootham Park Hospital where they would be able to look for sanctuary.

"It's fair to say there has been a spike in people becoming involved in crime... From years of experience these people go knock on the door of Bootham Park Hospital and will be treated in-house.

"With nowhere for them to go they end up committing usually petty crime."

The NHS said it had seen no evidence to suggest Mr Howard's perception was accurate.

Speaking to The Press, a friend of the jailed man, who has asked that he and his friend are not named, said his friend regularly goes through cycles of good health but needs secure care when he becomes unwell and would previously have sought help from Bootham Park Hospital.

York Press:

He had not been able to access the support he needed when he recently became ill, he said.

It had been suggested he committed a crime in order to get help and rather than being sectioned had been taken into custody.

"It's very upsetting to see somebody who has previously managed to deal with his condition with the help of the NHS, including voluntarily putting himself in Bootham and now he is not able to. His condition has meant he has done some silly, sad things which has resulted in him being arrested.

"Instead of being sectioned he has been put in prison. This is a man who needs help and he is being punished for something which is not his fault.

"The mental health system needs much more investment because it's such an important thing."

Bootham Park Hospital suddenly closed to inpatients at the end of September 2015. Last autumn a temporary replacement reopened in Peppermill Court, off Huntington Road. A crisis team is in place to support individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

A spokesperson for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust said: “Since we took over responsibility for mental health services in the Vale of York we have been doing everything possible to make sure that people get the care and support they need, when they need it.

“Until we were able to reopen inpatient services in York October last year, we provided inpatient care in our other hospitals, primarily Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough.

“We also strengthened our community and crisis services so that we were able to support more people at home.

“It’s important that people are able to access the mental health care they need and where concerns are raised we would always investigate them."

They said there was a lack of proof to back up the suggestion that more mentally ill people were being seen in the criminal justice system and said: “Unfortunately, without further information we are not in a position to respond to Mr Howard’s specific comments.”