John Hinckley Jr, the man who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, was released from a mental hospital on Saturday despite objections from Reagan’s family and his soon-to-be neighbours.

Hinckley successfully pleaded insanity after shooting Mr Reagan in the chest and wounding three others outside the Washington Hilton hotel, in an act inspired by his obsession with Jodie Foster, the actress.

He was sent to St Elizabeth’s psychiatric hospital in the Southeastern corner of Washington where he would remain for 35 years as a patient, and a subject of public fascination.