John Hinckley Jr: Man who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan to be released from hospital

Hinckley has spent more than three decades in a psychiatric facility

Mr Hinckley poses for a self-portrait (Getty)

After 35 years in a psychiatric hospital, the man who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan is expected to be released this month.

John Hinckley Jr attempted to assassinate Mr Reagan and shot three others outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on 30 March 1981.

A federal judge has ruled in favour of his release.

Hinckley, 61, now no longer poses a danger to himself or others, the judge has ruled. He will live full-time with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, as soon as 5 August.

He will still be subject to dozens of temporary restrictions and monitoring conditions, said US District Judge Paul Friedman, who took over the case of Hinckley’s re-integration into society since 2001.

These restrictions, including not straying more than 50 miles outside of Williamsburg, turning over information about his mobile phone and any vehicle he drives, as well as being barried from social media, could be phased out between 12 and 18 months.

Reagan narrowly escaped with his life from the shooting (Reuters)

If he relapses or violates the terms of his release, he could be returned to St Elizabeth's Hospital, where he lived full time since the 1990s. He was gradually allowed to spend 17 days per month at the home of his 90-year-old mother.

Court documents said he had shown no symptoms of active mental illness since 1983.

“In the view of most of the experts who testified before this court, Mr Hinckley has by now received the maximum benefits possible in an in-patient setting,” it concluded.

Hinckley was 25 years old when he used a .22-caliber pistol to wound Mr Reagan, his press secretary, James Brady, a US Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty.

Everyone survived the attack, but Mr Brady was left paralysed with a shot in the head. He died in 2014, and spent the years before his death campaigning for gun controls. Mr Reagan narrowly escaped from the attack. He died in 2004 at the age of 90, after suffering from Alzheimer’s for more than a decade.

The footage aired live on television and was seen by millions. He became one of the most famous mental health patients in the country.

He said he had attempted to kill the president to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed, after he saw the film Taxi Driver.

“Jodie, I’m asking you now to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance, with this historic deed to gain your respect and love,” he wrote in a letter that was found later by police.

He was diagnosed as delusional and suffering from a personality disorder, but was not found to present classic signs of schizophrenia, as reported by The Washington Post.

In Williamsburg, Hinckley will have to continue therapy and not talk to the media, and will volunteer three or four times a week.

He has lived with his mother for the majority of the month since December 2013, where he carries a trackable phone, logs his daily activities and takes unsupervised walks.