ONLY one qualified nurse was on duty when a high risk vulnerable patient escaped an acute mental health ward before being brutally killed.

Janet Müller, 21, climbed over a garden wall to leave Caburn ward at Mill View Hospital in Hove for the second time on March 12, 2015.

She was later burned alive in the boot of a car near Ifield Golf Course by Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw who is serving 17 years for her manslaughter.

An inquest into Janet’s death, being held at Crawley Coroner’s Court, yesterday heard that the ward was understaffed.

The 20 women on the acute mental health ward were being cared for by just one registered mental health nurse and two healthcare assistants.

The only nurse on duty was Naomi O’Mahony, the inquest was told. She said Janet had been distressed and partially undressed in her room with water on the floor after 9pm – but at the time she was busy dispensing patients’ night time medication so only briefly saw her to calm her down.

Ms O’Mahony said: “As the nurse in charge you don’t always have time to see everyone all the time and have to go on reports from other staff.

“I offered Janet Lorazepan to calm her down and her night time sleeping tablets. She took them voluntarily. I had a conversation with her and offered support.

“At the time I was doing the medication round and due to the demands on the ward wasn’t able to spend as much time with her as I would have liked.”

After returning to the clinic room to dispense other patients’ medication, Ms O’Mahony was told by a healthcare assistant at 10.15pm, that Janet could not be found.

After searching the ward and speaking to other patients Ms O’Mahony called the police at 10.45pm

“Because I knew she had gone AWOL earlier, I was extremely worried,” she said.

“Even though we were a qualified member of staff down, the staff there did everything they could to support me and to help Janet.

“It was just terrible. I was completely devastated when I found out the news. My thoughts were with her family and still are.”

Kirsty Heaven representing Janet’s family, asked: “You needed extra help.

“You were dealing with an escalation with Janet. Would it not have been sensible to lock the garden at least for an hour and ask for help?”

The nurse replied: “Looking back, knowing everything I know now, that’s what I should have done.

“At that time I was doing the job of two qualified nurses and I was one person on the ward.

“You are thinking of the wellbeing and safety of 20 unwell people. You don’t know that she is about to go over the wall.”

Miss Heaven replied: “It was obvious wasn’t it, that Janet was going to go over the wall?”

The inquest previously heard from Janet’s mother who said nobody had contacted her to tell say her daughter had been sectioned or had gone missing.

She said the hospital contacted Janet’s sister, who lived in Kent, despite her asking to be the first port of call.

The inquest continues.

VICTIM SECTIONED AFTER BEING FOUND NAKED IN STATION

JANET had been smoking skunk cannabis heavily before starting to suffer strange behaviour and psychotic episodes, the inquest heard.

She was first taken to Mill View hospital in Hove after being found naked at Eastbourne railway station.

She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but escaped twice on March 12.

Her body was found in a burnt-out Volkswagen Jetta near Ifield Golf Club the following day.

Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw was last year found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 17 years.

A two week inquest is set to determine the circumstances that led to Janet being detained at Mill View and how she came to escape.

Her sister Selina told the jury she had seen patients openly smoking cannabis within the hospital garden, from which her twin later escaped.

Janet’s mother, Ramona Müller, said she did not feel the hospital had kept her up to date about Janet’s treatment.

She told the jury: “They always said she was fine.

“I just thought she was a little bit ill.”

“I used to call Mill View but it wasn’t always possible to talk to somebody.

“I called the hospital almost every day.”

Nursing staff told the inquest they knew the risks of patients escaping through the front door and by scaling the wall of the garden.