Nurses in an emergency department were advised to let a young woman leave A&E hours before she fell from cliffs, despite plans to detain her.

Rachel Garrett, 22, was allowed to leave the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Staff had been told to let her go and there was a note on her records saying she had previously assaulted emergency workers.

However, a plan had been put in place by doctors that should Rachel try to leave, the hospital should consider detaining her under the Mental Health Act.

Hours after leaving the department, Rachel fell from cliffs in Brighton and died.

Speaking at the inquest into her death, William Rowell, matron at the Royal Sussex emergency department, said he understood that if she tried to leave she should be allowed to do so because she had previously asaulted police and NHS staff.

He said: “I had no update or thought the mental health liaison doctor was worried to the point that she wanted to detain the patient."

He said they called the mental health team to let them know she had gone and also called the police. He said: "We carried out what we were told to do.”

Mr Rowell added that staff from the emergency department tried to convince Rachel to stay in the department but did not force her to stay.

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He conceded that the department “probably should have called” Rachel's family after she left the hospital.

Rachel had been told on a separate trip to the department the previous day that if she tried to leave she would be detained but she also absconded on that occasion.

Rachel, of Brunswick Square, Hove, a student at Bath Spa University and drummer with Brighton band Grasshopper, died on July 29, 2020 after falling from cliffs near Brighton Marina.

She was described as the “joyful, beating heart” of her family in a statement read to the court earlier in the hearing.

The inquest into her death is examining the care she received by two NHS foundation trusts and Sussex Police.

Sussex Police say they have fully supported the coronial process. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust did not wish to comment before the end of the inquest.

The hearing at Leonardo Hotel in Stroudley Road, Brighton, presided over by senior coroner Penelope Schofield, is expected to conclude on Friday.