Following a 1988 television documentary which alleged that a patient, Sean Walton, had died after being beaten by staff allegedly with a snooker cue and a series of other serious allegations, a Committee of Inquiry into Complaints about Ashworth Hospital, Merseyside, headed by Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, was set up; it published its findings in 1992. Blom-Cooper was highly critical of the regime, which was felt to be more custodial than therapeutic, describing the regime as a "brutalising, stagnant, closed institution." The inquiry uncovered evidence of physical and psychological abuse of patients. Nurses had used a pig's head to intimidate patients, had placed pictures of brains in the locker of a patient who had undergone brain surgery, and had submerged one patient under water to test his breaking point. Extreme right-wing propaganda had been on prominent display. The inquiry report suggested, only half-jokingly, that international torture monitors should visit the hospital. Seven staff and two managers were relieved of their duties. Prof. Robert Bluglass who was the medical member of the inquiry concluded that all the Special Hospitals should be closed.
