‘My son described his NHS mental health ward as “hell” before he was found dead’

A mother whose son was found dead at a mental health unit a week after being admitted has described his experience under the NHS as “hell on earth”. Melanie Leahy spent more than a decade campaigning for a public inquiry into NHS mental health services in Essex after years of failings are thought to have contributed to “significantly” more than 2,000 deaths between 2020 and 2023. In a harrowing statement to The Lampard Inquiry, Ms Leahy said her life has been “totally destroyed” by the loss of her only son, aged 20, who was found hanging in his room at The Linden Centre, in Chelmsford, in 2012.

Three days after being admitted, Matthew reported to his mother that he had been drugged and raped. He died four days later. The post-mortem examination showed traces of the “date rape” drug GBH in Matthew’s blood and four or five needle marks on his groin as well as bruising above and behind both his ankles.

Ms Leahy told the Inquiry: “This is a place I fought for a long time to get to – for all the wrong reasons.” Speaking in front of a framed photograph of her son, she said: “Not only have I been robbed of my son, I’ve also been robbed of my dreams. 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? He cannot speak for himself or explain what happened. My son was dead within eight days of entering a so-called place of safety: The Linden Centre in Chelmsford.” Ms Leahy said her son was.