Lauren Ellis (pictured above) was found strangled after mental health nurses failed to check on her at the facility in Guernsey
Two mental health nurses missed the suicide of a vulnerable woman in a secure mental health unit ‘because they were too busy on their phones’.
Lauren Ellis was found strangled with a binding around her neck at a secure mental health unit in Guernsey.
The 22-year-old had been recognised as a high-risk patient and therefore had to be checked on every 15 minutes.
Despite this the final six checks before she died were not carried out, leading to the arrest of mental health nurses Rory McDermott, 32, and Naomi Prestidge, 31.
Both McDermott and Prestidge deny the joint manslaughter of Miss Ellis through gross negligence on 12 October 2017.
The trial was told they had been caught on camera with their feet up, browsing the internet for holidays and playing music on their phones instead of carrying out the scheduled checks.
This included carrying out searches for the Hard Rock Cafe in Teneriffe in the staff room while Miss Ellis was killing herself in a room next door, the prosecutor claimed.
Within minutes of the patient’s body being found, the defendants panicked and were caught on camera falsifying reports, the court heard.
But prosecutors say they failed in their duty of care towards Miss Ellis during her stay at the Oberlands Mental Health Centre in Guernsey.
Opening the prosecution case, Crown Advocate Chris Dunford said the last check had been done at 1am before Prestidge only discovered what had happened by chance at 2.42am.
This meant all six checks prior had been missed, he said.
Three hours earlier Miss Ellis’ mother had called the centre to raise concerns with McDermott about her daughter’s state of mind.
Lauren (pictured above with her mother Dawn Howley) was classed as a high-risk patient and should have been checked on every 15 minutes
He assured her she would be all right, the prosecution said, but he never gave the message to Prestidge, who was the shift co-ordinator that night.
Mr Dunford said both defendants were aware of Miss Ellis’ condition, her extremely serious and long history of self-harm, and the fact that they had responsibility for her care.
He said it was the prosecution case that the standard of care had been reasonable to 12.45am – but then it had ‘fallen off a cliff.’
The court heard how Miss Ellis had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder.
She was also a mental health campaigner on the island and had set up an online support group.
The Oberlands Centre (pictured above) where Miss Ellis had been a patient on the Crevichon Ward
She had been admitted to Crevichon Ward as a voluntary patient the day before her death. It had been a crisis admission as her recent self-harm had escalated to contain suicidal urges.
Miss Ellis had required hospital treatment because of her self-harming five times in the six days prior to her death – two of them on the day before she died.
A post-mortem examination later concluded that she died as a result of ligature strangulation.
Both defendants made false entries in the observation record check list just minutes after her body was discovered, the prosecutor claimed.
Both also knew Miss Ellis and how seriously she would self-harm, he added.
Mr Dunford said Prestidge only discovered Miss Ellis’ body by chance when she used the corridor outside her room to access the canteen.
CPR chest compressions were shared until an ambulance arrived at 2.55am and death was certified at 3.56am.
The Royal Court in Guernsey heard that from about 1am both defendants could be seen on CCTV sitting in the staff room for a considerable period and engaging with one another, the prosecution said.
Prestidge had her feet on a desk and was listening to music on her headphones. When police later seized her phone she said she had been browsing the internet. McDermott admitted doing the same but in his break.
The court was asked why Prestidge could be seen altering the observation check record list within about four minutes of Miss Ellis’ death when she would have known that Miss Ellis was in serious trouble or even dead.
‘Why was she wasting time when she should have been protecting Lauren?, asked Mr Dunford. ‘Was it self-preservation?’
CCTV footage showed clear panic among staff following the discovery of Miss Ellis’ body, the prosecutor added.
Police attended and circumstances were not believed to be suspicious at the time and the criminal investigation began only when CCTV was examined.
Both defendants were arrested on 7 November 2017. Prestidge said in interview that she had had a busy week of night shifts and might have switched off at the time.
She accepted making entries in the observation check record list but said she had done so in the belief that the checks had been done.
She had used her phone to access music, online banking and the internet. She said she had also accessed Trakcare – the patient record system, though Mr Dunford said this was disputed. She said she had been let down by the psychiatrists.
McDermott told police he believed that Miss Ellis had been asleep by 1am and he had gone to help a colleague on another corridor for a while.
He said he worked too many shifts and had taken too much on. He accepted that he should have told Prestidge about the telephone call from Miss Ellis’ mother and said he had been looking for guidance from a psychiatrist.
Mr Dunford said the ward was not under re-sourced and there was a process to enable staff to make complaints.
Prestidge started work at the Oberlands Centre in June 2016. McDermott started there in September 2016. Neither now work for Health & Social Care.
The trial continues.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article then you can call the Samaritans on 116 123, alternatively you can visit the website at by clicking here.
