Lampard Inquiry: Matthew Leahy ‘died in a place he called hell’, his mother Melanie Leahy, who fought for inquiry, says
A woman who has fought for a public inquiry into mental health care failings since the death of her son has urged its chair to do the “most thorough investigation possible”.
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing
Melanie Leahy said the inquiry needs to “set an example to the rest of the mental health providers across our nation to get their establishments up to standard or I fear many, many families will suffer the same losses”.
Her son, Matthew Leahy died in 2012 aged 20, days after being admitted for inpatient care in Essex.
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Lampard Inquiry: Families share grief
Melanie Leahy claims Matthew was ‘alone, malnourished and overmedicated’
Since then, Ms Leahy has claimed she has not been told the truth about how her son died.
Her tireless campaign has led to the Lampard Inquiry which is examining more than 2,000 deaths of mental health patients in Essex over a 24-year period.
Addressing the inquiry, with photographs of Matthew on a table in front of her, Ms Leahy said: “When Matthew became poorly we turned to so-called professionals for help, to help us understand what was happening and to help us find a way to help our son.
“I was the parent, it was my duty to protect my child. I worked hard throughout my life to give him a solid upbringing and teach him morals.
“I loved him, supported him, encouraged him and guided him, and nurtured him into his adulthood. Yet eight days in the care of the state and my son died. I will never come to terms with that.”
She said her son spent the last days of his life “in a place he called hell”, adding “now I truly believe it was hell on Earth”.
Melanie Leahy said finding who is responsible for Matthew’s death was ‘the focus of my life’
She alleged that during his time in the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, Matthew was “alone, malnourished, overmedicated, scared, bleeding, bruised, raped, injected multiple times, ignored and frightened”, adding there are “no records of any staff in those last days of his life offering him any comfort”.
The Lampard Inquiry opened earlier this month with its chair, Baroness Lampard, saying the number of deaths to be examined will be significantly in excess of the 2,000 considered by a previous investigation. The patients all died between 2000 and 2023.
A previous inquiry in 2021 did not have statutory powers and was abandoned after only 11 members of staff agreed to give evidence of the 14,000 contacted.
This week the new inquiry has been hearing directly from families of those who died.
Ms Leahy told the inquiry “this is a place I’ve fought a long time to get to for all the wrong reasons. I am Matthew’s mum and I bear witness for him. He cannot speak for himself or explain what happened”.
Melanie Leahy lays flowers and a picture of her son outside the Lampard Inquiry. Pic: PA
Her son, she recalled “was a beautiful soul” who “understood compassion and cared for others. He was generous, he was kind, he excelled at school and he was smart. He was funny”.
“Since I first held my son in my arms as a baby I always expected to live my entire life with Matthew,” she said. “Now every day and every night I cannot escape the reality and the accompanying sadness that my beautiful, handsome boy is gone.”
Referring to her ongoing fight for answers she said “Matthew’s death and who was responsible for it became and still is the focus of my life”.
“In order to move on at all, I must have the truth I need to understand the specifics of Matthew’s death,” she said. “I need a clear picture of exactly what happened and to this day I do not have that.
“My journey thus far has been a long and arduous one. Over the 12 years to date I have gradually lost all faith, trust and respect as I’ve faced such intense pain from callous incompetence, systemic failure, antagonism, hypocrisy and prejudice. I have faced death threats, I’ve been ridiculed.
“I stand before you a broken person. My world has become a much darker place without the light of Matthew. How can it be possible I won’t see my son again?”
Read more:
What is the Lampard Inquiry – and what is it investigating?
Deaths of thousands of mental health patients to be investigated
Paul Scott, chief executive of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), said: “I want to say how sorry I am to anyone who has lost a loved one or whose care has not been of the standard it should have been.
“I welcome the Lampard Inquiry and we will do all we can to support Baroness Lampard and the team to deliver the answers that families and patients are seeking.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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