The mother of a young man who died in a mental health facility described the centre as “hell on Earth” at a public inquiry into mental health deaths. The Lampard Inquiry is investigating over 2,000 deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2023. Matthew Leahy, who was 20 at the time of his death in 2012, was found unresponsive at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, where he had reported being raped. His mother, Melanie Leahy, has campaigned for an inquiry for ten years and spoke emotionally on the fifth day of the inquiry.
Melanie Leahy said her son spent his last days “alone, malnourished, over-medicated, scared, bleeding, bruised, raped, injected multiple times, ignored and frightened” in a place where “compassion or empathy” was lacking. She also described her own experience of being prevented from touching her son’s body after he died, as it was treated as a crime scene. Ms Leahy told grieving families that she hoped her determination would serve as a reminder that “truth will find its way, no matter what the obstacles.”
Nine families also gave commemorative statements during the proceedings, including Paul Guille, who spoke of his sister Bethany Lilley, who took her own life in January 2019 while on Thorpe Ward at Basildon Mental Health Unit. Mr Guille noted Bethany’s love for music, especially Eminem, and her job as an assistant in a care home. Karon Pimm also paid tribute to her son Terrence Pimm, known as TJ, who fell from a car park in Colchester in August 2016 when he was 30. Weighing only two pounds when he was born prematurely, TJ had grown up to be a talented footballer, earning coaching badges from Colchester United.
The trusts responsible for mental health services in Essex apologised to the bereaved families for their losses during their opening statements to the inquiry. They also pledged to work with the inquiry team and chairwoman Baroness Lampard to provide answers that patients, carers and families were seeking. The inquiry will continue for two days next week before taking a break and another three-week session in November. Further sessions are scheduled for 2025, and the final report may not be published until the end of 2026
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