Hinckley may have brain damage

Press, 18 November 1981, Page 8

Hinckley may have brain damage

NZPA-Reuter Washington John Hinckley, accused oftrying to rtturder President Ronald Reagan . in March, may have suffered permanent brain damage during his week-end suicide attempt in prison, a Justice Department spokesman said in Washington yesterday. Hinckley’s makeshift attempt to hang himself from the bars of a cell window had cut off the supply of blood to the brain for three

to five minutes, he said. It was too early to say whether the damage would be lasting. Hinckley was in a - serious condition, but on the way to at least partial recovery at Fort Meade prison hospital near Washington. Hinckley had been under round-the-clock surveillance since a first suicide attempt in May, when he swallowed an overdose of Tylenol, an aspirin substitute. But when marshals saw

him fashion a noose from his clothing and start to hang himself on Sunday a faulty cell-door lock prevented them from reaching him immediately, according to a Justice Department spokesman. Hinckley, aged 26, will go 1 on trial in January for shooting Mr Reagan, the Presidential Press Secretary (Mr Jim Brady), a Secret Service guard, and a Washington policeman.