A SECURE mental health unit could face prosecution after one of its patients walked out on to a busy dual carriageway and was killed by a lorry.

Beverly Higgins, 44, was in the care of Clare House secure unit, in Pound Lane, Bowers Gifford, at the time she was hit on the A127 at Wickford.

She was one of five patients on an escorted visit to a garden centre, by the busy main road. In his quarterly report, Essex Chief Constable Roger Baker says an investigation into the crash is still ongoing.

He adds officers are probing the question of whether the secure unit’s managers might be “corporately liable in their duty of care” towards the mother-of-one.

Heather Watts, spokesman for Essex Police, said: “An investigation into the collision is currently ongoing.

“We are in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether any offences have been committed.”

It is expected police could know as early as next week whether they will bring charges against St Andrew’s Healthcare, the charity which runs Clare House.

The most serious charge it could face is one of corporate manslaughter, for which an unlimited fine can be imposed.

Ms Higgins had been plagued by mental illness for years when she became a residential patient at Clare House.

She was one of a group on a supervised trip with two carers to the Alton Garden Centre on the A127, on Monday October 13 last year.

She was trying to cross the London-bound carriageway when she was hit by a truck, killing her instantly.

Following her death, her devastated family spoke of her talent as a pianist and described her as “having the voice of an angel”.

They also said she had “given up the fight” with her mental illness.

Kevin Newman, spokesman for St Andrew’s Healthcare, said the charity was confident its staff did nothing wrong.

He added: “St Andrew’s Healthcare, an established charity specialising in mental health care and rehabilitation, is co-operating fully with police and external enquiries into this tragic incident.

“It takes confidence, in the light of an independently commissioned investigation, that there will be no finding of culpability on its part and is satisfied with systems and structures in place to safeguard the well-being of those in its care.”