An NHS trust and a ward manager will be sentenced next week for health and safety failings – more than a decade after a young woman died in a secure mental health hospital.
Warning: This article contains references to suicide.
Earlier this year, a jury found the North East London NHS Foundation Trust and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa did not do enough to prevent Alice Figueiredo from killing herself.
The decisions were reached after the joint-longest jury deliberation in English legal history.
Alice was 22 years old when she took her own life at London’s Goodmayes Hospital in July 2015.
Her parents sat through seven months of difficult and graphic evidence – and told Sky News the experience retraumatised them.
Jane Figueiredo said: “It’s very distressing, because you know that she’s been failed at every point all the way along, and you’re also reliving the suffering that she went through.
“It’s adding trauma on top of the wound that you’ve already got, the worst wound you can imagine, of losing your child.”
Alice’s stepfather Max said he remains “appalled” that she died in a place they thought would care for her.
“The fact we have these repeated deaths of very young people in secure mental health units shocks me to the core. How can society look at that event and portray it as something that happens as a matter of course?”
Ms Figueiredo said Alice had predicted her own death.
“She said to us – out of fear really: ‘The only way I’m going to leave this ward is in a body bag.’
“It’s because she did not feel safe.”
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In a statement, the North East London NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are deeply sorry for Alice’s death, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones.
“We have taken significant steps to continually improve the physical and social environment, deliberately designed to support recovery, safety, wellbeing, and assist our workforce in delivering compassionate care.”
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For Alice’s family, the convictions have brought some justice, but they will never have complete closure.
“As a mum your bereavement doesn’t ever end, it changes over years as you go on, but it’s unending. The thought I won’t even hear her voice is unbearable and I still miss it. I still miss her voice,” Ms Figueiredo said.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
