Bereaved parents describe their loss at mental health patient deaths inquiry

Bereaved parents have shared loving memories of their children and told of the pain of losing them at an inquiry into the deaths of mental health patients in Essex .

The Lampard Inquiry will investigate the deaths of people who were receiving mental health inpatient care in Essex between 2000 and 2023.

Chairwoman Baroness Kate Lampard said the number of deaths within the scope of the inquiry will be “significantly in excess of the 2,000” previously thought.

This will include people who died within three months of discharge, and those who died as inpatients receiving NHS-funded care in the independent sector.

Baroness Lampard said on Monday, as the first commemorative statements of the inquiry were heard, that she wanted to express “how grateful I am to everyone who has shared an account of a person who died and the impact of that person’s death”.

“I find these accounts deeply moving and affecting,” she said, adding that they give a “very necessary perspective on the seriousness and tragedy of the matters we’re dealing with”.

She assured the inquiry she had read all of the accounts that had been provided, “looked at every photograph and viewed every video in its entirety”.

Patrick Brennan, giving the first commemorative statement of the inquiry, said his son Liam Brennan was a “talented chef” who “enjoyed the creativity and camaraderie of the kitchen”.

A photograph of Liam Brennan, that said “in loving memory of Liam Brennan”, was displayed on screens around the inquiry venue in Chelmsford as Mr Brennan sipped from a glass of water and spoke about his son.

He said that his son, who died four days after his 29th birthday in 2012, was a Chelsea football fan with a “throaty laugh” and “everyone who met him remembered him fondly”.

Mr Brennan described an “almost overwhelming sense of failure that you’ve outlived your child or sibling” and told of the “corporate defensiveness” of mental health services.

“We were desperate for help which is why we turned to the NHS for the answers we couldn’t find ourselves,” he said.

Mr Brennan said that “at family events there’s always someone missing”.

Lisa Wolff placed a framed photograph of her daughter Abbigail Smith on the desk in front of her at the inquiry venue, along with some of her belongings.

She said her daughter, who took her own life in 2022 aged 26, was a “kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours and patterns”.

Ms Wolff said her daughter enjoyed singing and was an “accomplished horse rider” with a “magical bond with animals”.

She held up a rosette that her daughter had won aged 11 in 2006 at beginner’s show jumping.

She described a holiday to Cornwall and a trip to Alton Towers theme park, and said she hoped her daughter is “shining down on us, smiling in delight at so many people loving and caring about you”.

Ms Wolff fought back tears as she said: “It seems totally unfair that you had to die in order to be safe and at peace when you should have been supported to achieve this when you were alive.”

Nicholas Griffin KC, counsel to the inquiry, said at the outset of Monday’s hearing that counsellors wearing black lanyards were present in the venue to offer “emotional support”.

“We want all those engaging in the inquiry to feel safe and supported,” he said.

Describing the commemorative statements, Mr Griffin said: “The evidence you will be hearing may be commemorative of a person who has died, speaking about their lives and aspirations and other memories.

“It may be about the impact their death had on the person making the statement.”

Further commemorative statements will be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, next week, and there will be further hearings conducted virtually in November.

Evidential hearings will not begin until next year.

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