Sam Marsden

Paul Gascoigne must be detained for his own safety or there could be a "serious tragedy", a former team-mate said yesterday.

The ex-England footballer was released from hospital on Monday after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act for the second time this year.

His one-time Tottenham Hotspur colleague Gary Mabbutt spoke yesterday of his frustration that Gascoigne had repeatedly been able to discharge himself from treatment.

Mabbutt said in a radio interview: "What I think is important for people to realise is Paul is not a celebrity drunk.

"The fact of the matter is he's suffering from very serious illnesses. These illnesses mean he honestly believes that his condition is nowhere near as grave as it really is.

"Hence when he discharges himself from the treatment programmes, which he has done a number of times over the last two or three months, he relapses."

Mabbutt said the terms of the 1983 Mental Health Act meant Gascoigne could not be held against his will for an extended period.

"Paul does have these self-destructive urges, which do put him in a life-threatening situation, and if we're not careful this could lead to a serious tragedy," he said.

"All that we're asking is to try to find a way to be able to contain Paul so that he can undergo this treatment and rehabilitation to give him the best chance to overcome his very serious problems."

Gascoigne was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on Sunday after approaching a member of the public in an agitated state in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

He was previously sectioned in February after an incident at a Tyneside hotel.

He spent more than a fortnight at Middleton St George Hospital, in Darlington, County Durham, before being released.

At the weekend his sister, Anna Gascoigne, spoke of her fears that her brother would die if he was not sectioned.

Gascoigne's former agent, Mel Stein, called yesterday for the media to leave the troubled former player alone.

He said: "He needs to be left alone in the hands of specialists, and I honestly think that well-meaning amateurs need to keep out of this."

But he added: "At the end of the day he has to help himself as well."