No hospital release for Clive (From Stourbridge News)

No hospital release for Clive

10:33am Monday 21st January 2008 in Local By Martyn Smith

A STOURBRIDGE man is facing an extended term in a secure hospital after a court ordered his continued detention.

Clive Barker was a familiar figure in Stourbridge until magistrates in Halesowen issued a hospital order, forcing him to move to a specialist unit in Birmingham.

It now seems likely 50-year-old Clive, who suffers from learning difficulties, will spend the foreseeable future in full-time hospital care after further medical reports were presented to the court.

On Friday January 18, Halesowen Magistrates granted a further four weeks to the interim order, which was first issued in September last year.

The court also heard doctors are recommending the measures be made permanent despite Clive having previously threatened suicide if he was separated from his disabled mother Ivy.

At last week's hearing Clive's solicitor, Tim Bishop, told magistrates his client was unwilling to be subject to hospitalisation.

Mr Bishop said: "The hospital considers a full-time order is the best way forward, contrary to my instructions."

After the September court case, Clive was branded a "Neighbour from Hell" by residents of Baylie Court in Stourbridge, where he was living with Ivy, who is in her 80s.

His child-like behaviour, which included allegations of moving items around the building and using door mats to block lift doors, eventually caused Clive to fall foul of the law.

He was issued with a series of court orders designed to prevent further anti-social behaviour after police were regularly called to the Stourbridge flats, which are home to many elderly people.

Magistrates will consider new medical reports about Clive when the case returns to court on Friday February 15.