A CONVICTED criminal overdosed on a prescribed anti-psychotic drug, an inquest has concluded.

Broadmoor Hospital patient Dante Campbell Plant was found lying on his side in a 'drowsy' and 'clammy' state in his bed in the Canterbury ward on the morning of April 1, 2015.

The 25-year-old, who had legally changed his name from Jack to depict a video game character he admired, died at Frimley Park Hospital later that afternoon.

Plant was given a life sentence at the Old Bailey in 2006 after being convicted of murdering his sister when he set fire to his family's south London home when he was 14.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of his brother, 12, after he bludgeoned him over the head with an axe and arson with intent to endanger life.

Staff, doctors and paramedics all tried to make sense of the situation when they couldn't wake him up, but after suffering fits on the way to and in hospital he was pronounced dead at 4.49pm.

Jurors were told at Reading Town Hall on Monday, January 23, that patients' mouths in the ward where Plant was staying are not checked after taking their medication.

Senior coroner for Berkshire Peter Bedford was told the hospital encourages patients to take responsibility for themselves as they continue their rehabilitation to less restrictive wards.

Before his arrival at Broadmoor in March 2008, Plant left a note and was found unconscious in the facility where he was staying, later telling staff it was a suicide attempt.

He told Broadmoor staff he had tried to kill himself several times, but his primary care nurse insisted it was an act so he could be reassured he was 'loved and cared for'.

On one occasion in 2013 he told nurses he had overdosed on his anti-psychotics, but blood tests later showed this wasn't true and his medication was switched to liquid form.

"When he was feeling sad he would approach staff or come and talk to me," said his primary healthcare nurse, Ruvenko Sakupwanya. "He was very selective in his communication.

"He was not an aggressive patient, it was more internal. In his mind. So changes to his behaviour would not be obvious when his mood changed.”

Three requests to visit the hospital chapel were made by Plant days before his death, but Ms Sakupwanya said she and other staff saw it as an attempt to distract his mind.

"He had not made this request before," she told Peter Bedford. "We viewed this as a positive step in his rehabilitation."

Police officers who searched Plant's room at 7.30pm on April 1 did not find any trace of drugs but discovered a black journal with the words 'This book is the property of the deceased' written on the front page.

His psychologist, Estelle Moore, said his last entry in his journal read: "I know what I am going to do. It won't be easy, not for those who cared.

"Please look after my family, they will not understand. No point in dragging this out any longer, hell's jaws await me. Death is awe."

A post-mortem report confirmed Plant's death was caused by a high concentration of an anti-psychotic drug he had been prescribed.

He had been struggling to deal with insomnia, depression and anxiety leading up to the anniversary of his sister's death and had also been treated for epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

Toxicologist Lindsay Ward said the dose of the anti-psychotic drug - which was two times his prescribed amount - 'would have been enough to take his life on its own'.

Jurors were not asked to determine guilt or associate blame, but to conclude whether or not Plant had deliberately taken more medication than he should have.

After more than three hours of deliberation, they reached a unanimous conclusion of suicide.

Mr Bedford thanked Plant's parents Donald and Barbara, adding: "None of us can appreciate how difficult this was for you. You have conducted yourselves with commendable grace and strength."