My son was strangled, mother tells inquiry

The mother of a young man who died in the care of a mental health trust has told a public inquiry she believes her son may have been strangled to death rather than taking his own life.

Ben Morris was 20 when he was found dead in his room on Galleywood ward at the Linden Centre, Chelmsford, on 28 December 2008, where he had been an inpatient for three weeks.

Lisa Morris told the Lampard Inquiry: "I strongly believe Ben was strangled by someone else and then it was all passed through as a suicide."

The inquiry is looking into the deaths of more than 2,000 people who were in the care of NHS mental health services in Essex over 24 years.

Lisa Morris and fellow bereaved mother Melanie Leahy were instrumental in pushing for the full judge-led public inquiry.

Morris told the inquiry the "belt they say he used... I know it wasn't his belt... it was far too long for his waist".

The counsel for the Lampard Inquiry, Rachel Troup, said Ben's mother felt the mental health trust had tried to "silence and discredit" her the more she found out about her son's care.

Morris wrote to Essex Police's chief constable asking them to investigate her son's death in 2021. Troup told the hearing the answer was "a no", but Morris felt the way Ben died did "not make sense or stack up".

Ben died 20 days after admitting himself into the care of the Linden Centre. It was the only time he had been a patient there.

Morris told the hearing her son's condition deteriorated.

"He hated it in there; he said it was hell," she said.

"But he said he was prepared to stay because of hopefully getting help."

On one occasion speaking to Ben over the phone while he was in the ward, Morris said she overheard her son being restrained and that he was "begging a nurse" to explain what he had done wrong.

She said her son claimed he was restrained on previous occasions. Morris said the inquest into his death in 2011 raised more questions than answers.

On the night Ben died, his mum said she spoke to him for the last time at 20:25 GMT and knew something was not right.

"He was just slurring. I've never heard him speak like that," she told the inquiry.

Referring to Morris's written evidence, Troup said: "What you did make out was he was agitated, desperate to get out of the Linden Centre and expressing to you he was going to kill himself or someone else."

Morris confirmed that was the case.

She added that she immediately called the ward that night and was told by staff they heard what he said he was going to do.

The hearing was told the two staff members working with Ben left work at about 20:30 - half an hour before their shift was due to end.

Ben was discovered at 21:00. Attempts were made to resuscitate him, but he was declared dead at 21:43.

He left behind a partner and a daughter, who was two and a half years old when he died.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "Our thoughts remain with Lisa Morris and all who knew and loved Ben.

"Following Ben's death, the circumstances were investigated by Essex Police.

"Following this investigation, an experienced senior investigating officer carried out a further review of the circumstances and met with Mrs Morris."

The Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust took over provision of mental health services in the county in 2017.

Asking about Ben's care, chief executive Paul Scott said in a statement: "All of us across healthcare have a responsibility to work together to improve care and treatment for all and to build on the improvements that have already been made over the last 24 years."

The inquiry, which is currently taking place in Arundel House in central London, continues.

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