A mentally-ill prisoner has hanged himself at Westgate – four months after a judge ruled he was being kept there in unsuitable and disturbing conditions.

Lorenzo Robinson, 28, a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from depression, was found dead in his cell late on Sunday night.

He was sent to Westgate after stabbing American tourist Scott Jable in the back with a six inch blade on Front Street in 2002, in an attack that narrowly missed paralysing his victim.

Robinson claimed to have stabbed Mr. Jable after hearing the voice of Osama Bin Laden. He was acquitted of attempted murder on the grounds of insanity and sent to a maximum security hospital cell at Westgate.

News of his apparent suicide was greeted with shock and sadness yesterday from Mr. Jable, who said: "He's somebody I just feel so much sympathy for. Obviously he had a lot of issues that he just could not deal with and they really weren't his fault.

"From my understanding, he was born to a mother that was a drug addict and had a terrible upbringing and the poor guy never had a chance. I wish he could have had a chance."

Robinson complained in March to Chief Justice Richard Ground that the conditions he was kept in at Westgate were unsuitable, given his mental condition, and that he was being denied the therapy he needed.

It resulted in a ruling from Mr. Justice Ground agreeing that he needed treatment in a secure psychiatric unit of a type Bermuda does not have. The top judge branded the conditions Robinson was kept in at Westgate as unacceptable, and highlighted the need for specialist facilities.

He also urged Governor Sir Richard Gozney to consider sending Robinson for treatment overseas. Efforts were underway to achieve this at the time of his death.

Speaking from his home in Chicago, Mr. Jable, 43, said he was rendered speechless for several minutes by the news.

"That was not a phone call I ever wanted to get. The phone call I wanted to get was in two or three years from now to be told that somehow in England or Bermuda he got treatment for his mental illness and he was going to re-enter society," he said.

Although he wishes Robinson had been given the specialist help he needed, Mr. Jable does not blame the Bermudian authorities.

"It's a shame that he never had that opportunity but it's not as if he was being treated badly by the people of Bermuda. You guys did what you could with what you had. He was a tough case. From what I heard, he was not easy for people to take care of," he said.

Giving his reaction to the news, Robinson's lawyer Llewellyn Peniston said:"It is absolutely regrettable that this matter was dragged out all the way to the Supreme Court to establish that the was mentally challenged and that for the therapy he needed, whatever facility that was available in Bermuda was inadequate.

"There is no question that he would have had a better chance had he been expedited to one of those overseas institutions and provided with the therapy that he needed."

According to Mr. Peniston, Health Minister Nelson Bascome backed those efforts but his attention had been drawn away by theft charges he is currently facing at Magistrates' Court.

"The Minister was entirely sympathetic and supportive of the effort to have him placed overseas. Despite that support, the Minister has been distracted by some personal issues," he said.

Mr. Peniston was unable to say if Robinson was a suicide risk at the time of his death, explaining that his moods swung depending on his reaction to his medication.

During Robinson's appeal to the Chief Justice, doctors at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Centre said the psychiatric hospital does have a locked unit suitable for the long-term detention of a high risk patient such as Robinson.

The case also heard from Robinson that he spent most of his time in a maximum security "hospital" cell atWestgate, but also spent periods in a segregation cell in the punishment block for offences including stabbing a prison guard with a sharpened toothbrush.

In evidence described by the Chief Justice as "disturbing," Robinson said the punishment cell did not have a mattress, and he slept wearing just a smock on a blanket on a concrete floor.

"The lights are on in the segregation cell 24 hours a day and I get thirty minutes out of the cell per day," he explained. In the maximum security cell, he was allowed out for two hours per day and did have clothing and a bed.

Speaking after the Chief Justice's ruling in March, Commissioner of Prisons Lt. Col. Edward Lamb said efforts to implement the much-needed secure psychiatric unit were underway. In the meantime, he said, prison staff were doing the best they could to manage "a difficult situation" and Robinson was receiving medical, psychiatric and custodial care.

Neither he nor the Government responded to questions from this newspaper yesterday about what type of cell Robinson was in at the time of his death, what stage arrangements to have him sent overseas were at, and whether he was on suicide watch.

Yesterday, the authorities failed to say exactly how Robinson had died.

A press statement issued by the Cabinet Office simply confirmed the "sudden death" of an inmate at Westgate and quoted Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing David Burch as saying that a full investigation is underway and that he sent his "sincere condolences" to the family.

The Police issued a similarly-worded statement, confirming that Robinson was the inmate in question, and explaining that his lifeless body was found in his cell by a Corrections Officer during routine checks a few minutes before midnight on Sunday.

While a Police investigation is underway, this newspaper understands that there is no suspicion of foul play.