The household of a West London woman who took her personal life aged simply 13 have shared their heartbreak on the primary day of an inquest into her loss of life. Lacey Jane Clark, from Uxbridge, died on November 16 2021 after 4 months on a psychological well being ward at a South London hospital. On Monday (June 12) a jury on the West London Coroner’s Court docket was given her medical reason for loss of life as ‘deadly strain to the neck’.
Lacey’s psychiatrist gave proof, detailing her four-month keep on the Lavender Ward at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton. Dr Daramola recalled how she was transferred there underneath Part 2 of the Mental Health Act after a obligatory A&E admission from Hillingdon Hospital on July 12 2021, however grew to become a long-term affected person after fears she may damage herself if returned dwelling.
The 12-bed unit is for sufferers with ‘important psychological well being difficulties’, however is designed to offer younger sufferers ‘a sure degree of entry’ to issues which are out there in the actual world – like metallic cutlery and blades. The court docket heard how Lacey was medicated to deal with nervousness related to Autism Spectrum Dysfunction, however by no means tried to overdose throughout her keep.
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Greater than as soon as she left the ward with different sufferers, one time discovered by police ‘shaking and really anxious’ in a close-by charity store. The animal-loving teen later promised if she was given go away to go to a horse along with her dad, then wouldn’t abscond. “When the remedy canine visited the unit these have been the perfect occasions for Lacey,” Dr Daramola added.
He defined measures taken to cease sufferers from absconding, and different disruptive behaviour, now embrace solely giving entry to cellphones in daytime and non-school hours. He stated: “Since then we’ve had no main episodes of group absconding.”
Commenting on the choice to permit her dwelling previous to her loss of life, he recalled how she had actively engaged in group remedy and appeared ‘prepared’. “She was telling all people about seeing her mates at college,” he stated. “We didn’t see any indication for us to stop that go away going forward.”
Lacey’s mother and father Lisa and Bradley Clark appeared in court docket as Coroner Lydia Brown learn their emotional assertion onto the report. “The lack of our daughter remains to be extraordinarily painful, and having to place collectively an account of engagement with Lavender Ward is tough,” they stated.
They then detailed a lot of observations about her time in hospital previous to her loss of life. They described how alleged ‘safety deficiencies’ meant their daughter was capable of get out and ‘wander the streets’. They added: “We drove to the unit to get clarification and search the streets and prepare stations to try to discover Lacey.” After the incident they met with the ward supervisor.
However they added: “It appeared incidents had occurred not at all times shared with us as mother and father. Lacey was underneath fixed supervision however was present in mattress with one other woman. The fixed supervision was clearly not being adhered to.” Additionally they stated it was ‘unhappy to see’ sufferers sat within the hall. “Boredom is a consider instability,” they added.
“It was apparent staffing was a problem,” they continued. “The one type of communication was by one cell phone quantity… At most occasions we struggled to get by means of as nobody answered the telephone.”
The court docket additionally heard from Detective Sergeant Katsui who combed by means of Lacey’s telephone through the probe into her loss of life. He defined there was no proof of bullying or anybody encouraging Lacey to self-harm or take her life – actually, messages from household have been ‘extremely supportive’ – however he added: “I can not account for something floating round on social media”.
Jurors additionally heard how Lacey had left an extended notice on her telephone, which she had added to a number of occasions previous to her loss of life. On the night she died, she made a FaceTime name to a different particular person for over one hour and despatched a message to a special particular person.
A fundraiser began in Lacey’s reminiscence already has over £14,000 in donations. The organiser wrote: “I’m organising this web page for Lisa and Bradley Clark and their wonderful household as there stunning 13-year-old daughter handed away on Tuesday 16th November. This was very surprising. As you possibly can think about this can be a heart-breaking state of affairs that no mum or dad would ever wish to face.
You possibly can donate to the GoFundMe here.
In case you need assistance, contact Samaritans on 116 123 or go to jo@samaritans.org. You matter.
Obtained a narrative or a tip off? Please e-mail callum.cuddeford@reachplc.com or WhatsApp 07580255582
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