much as a last resort. when he was admitted, sean refused to take a covid test. he was uneasy interacting with staff who were wearing full ppe. for infection control reasons, he was confined to a four bedroom corridor away from most other patients. covid restrictions were applied across mental health servicesl in northern ireland. unfortunately for people with a mental illness, i this could add to the distress, - you know, and you have that concern about transmission of covid. at the same time, it was a terrible situation for everybody. but for people with mental illness, we know that i their illnesses got worse. watched by the wards cctv camera, sean spent hours on his own with almost nothing to do. he didn t sleep and refused food. his paranoia led him to believe it could have been tampered with. at some point during the night, a member of the nursing staff took