An NHS trust has been fined £565,000 after a 22-year-old woman killed herself on a mental health ward described as a 'death trap'. Alice Figueiredo died on 7 July 2015 at Goodmayes Hospital in Redbridge, following 18 previous attempts to self-harm.
North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) was found guilty of breaching health and safety after failing to remove plastic items from communal toilets on the Hepworth ward. Ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa, 54, was convicted of failing to take reasonable care for patient safety and received a suspended six-month prison sentence and 300 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Richard Marks KC described Figueiredo as a 'beautiful vibrant young woman' and said the accessibility of plastic in the toilets was a 'very serious problem'. He noted that keeping the communal area locked while she was on the ward would have been a minor inconvenience.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Figueiredo's mother Jane said her daughter had been confined to a 'death trap' that was 'a fatality waiting to happen'. She added that pleas for help were 'regularly shut down, silenced'.
The trust was fined £565,000 plus £200,000 in costs. Judge Marks noted its finances were in an 'absolutely parlous state' and a large fine could affect services. NELFT was cleared of corporate manslaughter, and Aninakwa was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.
