MAN HELD AS WOMAN IS FOUND DEAD IN HOSPITAL

A WOMAN was found dead in her hospital bed hours after nurses caught a suspected thief prowling the wards.

Last night police were quizzing a 21-year-old man allegedly chased by staff from the side room occupied by 52-year-old Heather Davis.

Police spokesman Richard Horobin said: "Staff were alerted when they heard a disturbance coming from the room. A man was found inside but fled the scene while the nurses were attending to the patient.

"He was tracked down and detained on the ward.

"The man was initially suspected of stealing a handbag. Shortly after this, a middle-aged woman on surgical ward E4 was found dead."

A post-mortem later revealed that Miss Davis died from a heart attack attack - but last night police were investigating whether the handbag incident contributed to her death.

Authorities were contacting relatives of other patients yesterday to reassure them after the tragic discovery at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, near Portsmouth, Hants.

Chief executive Dick Bishop said: "The other patients were not aware of the incident.

"This is harrowing for all the staff on duty and it is harrowing for the unfortunate people we had to contact this morning."

Police were called to the hospital just after midnight on Friday after nursing staff spotted the man roaming the wards.

Spokesman Richard Horobin said: "They became suspicious because of the time the man was on the ward. It was the early hours of the morning and well outside visiting hours. The man had arrived at the hospital earlier in the evening for treatment in the accident and emergency department.

"It is believed he made his way from there on to the ward where the death occurred, two floors above the ground-floor A and E."

The man was taken to Portsmouth Central police station for questioning.

The 28-bed E4 ward is made up of one, two and three-bedroom rooms.

Yesterday a forensic team was working in Miss Davis's room and a Home Office pathologist was called in.

A hospital spokesman said that one corridor had been closed off and that some patients had been relocated in the hospital.

Police have not said if the man and Miss Davis, of Forest Road, Liss, Hants, knew each other.

Nor did hospital officials reveal what she was being treated for.

The incident comes a week after Emily Wilmott, a nurse at the QA, was injured when thieves ran her over in her own car.

Nursing staff raised their concerns then about working in the hospital and security was said to be under review.

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