Hinckley bids to be allowed trips home

John Hinckley Jr, 48, has been a patient at St Elizabeth’s Hospital since he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the shooting of Mr Reagan and three others outside a Washington hotel in March 1981. Hinckley said he shot the president to impress actress Jodie Foster.

Hinckley has been allowed to take supervised day trips from the hospital since a federal appeals court ruling in 1999. Yesterday, he was scheduled to appear in court to ask US District Court Judge Paul L Friedman to allow him have unsupervised visits with his parents away from the hospital. Senior US District Judge June L. Green cancelled a hearing on a similar motion three years ago after prosecutors said Hinckley had a “continued interest in violently themed books and music”.