A Canvey man has turned down an increased offer of damages after he was unlawfully locked up in a mental hospital.

Gary Huzzey is claiming compensation for false imprisonment after winning a High Court battle over his "unlawful and irrational" detention.

He revealed that Riverside Mental Health Trust has now offered him £30,000 to settle out of court. The figure was double that offered last month.

Mr Huzzey, of Thameside Crescent, said: "I gracefully turned it down because it is an insult."

He will now have his case heard by a jury in February to set the level of compensation he should be awarded.

In 1996 Mr Huzzey was detained at Horton Hospital, Surrey, where he was assessed under the 1983 Mental Health Act.

His mother asked for him to be released from hospital but a medical officer's report said he was "likely to act in a manner dangerous" to himself or others.

The 37-year-old had suffered mental problems since 1992 when he claimed an operation caused scarring to his forehead. He developed obsessive and threatening tendencies towards those who had treated him.

Mr Huzzey challenged the decision to detain him after his mother's request and a High Court judge ruled he had been detained unlawfully.

It was the first case to clarify the law on how hospital managers should approach the problem when doctors block - on public safety grounds - a request by a relative that a patient should be released.

Mr Huzzey said: "I am going to the High Court to claim compensation owed for keeping me in a mental hospital, which is far worse than any prison, for three months.

"All through this case I have been representing myself and it is quite unique for someone to secure a trial by jury to decide on the level of damages."

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