UK News 23-09-2003 Bruno Taken Into Care who: Frank Bruno what: Admitted to psychiatric hospital where: Goodmayes psychiatric hospital, ILFORD when: Yesterday snippet: The Sun has wisely softened its first-edition headline "Bonkers Bruno Is Locked Up" after the newspapers united last night to give a sympathetic angle to news that former world heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno has been taken from his Essex home to be treated at Goodmayes psychiatric hospital in Ilford. "Bruno`s behaviour has been a source of concern to friends and former colleagues in recent months," says The Guardian, "and his health had apparently declined since the breakdown of his marriage two years ago. His wife Laura left him, taking their children, Nicola, 21, Rachel, 16, and Franklin, seven, with her." "An Essex Police source said officers had assisted in removing Mr Bruno from his home in Stondon Massey near Brentwood," says The Independent. Police officers and paramedics apparently spent several hours persuading him to accompany them. The 41-year-old has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and he could be kept in custody for at least 28 days. "People saw Frank as this pantomime figure who took life in his stride. But he is far more complicated than that," says former world featherweight champion Barry Mcguigan in The Mirror. "Frank has battled all his life to overcome a chronic lack of self-esteem. The ring was one of the few places that he felt good about himself. And it was an environment he controlled brutally." [... more]

What The Papers Say is delivered to thousands of readers every morning by web, WAP and email. Sign up today!