'Heart of gold' Brother of missing Milton Keynes woman Leah Croucher was begging for help for his mental health problems, inquest hears

Haydon Croucher, the brother of missing Leah, took his own life after telling a therapist he was finding it difficult to cope, an inquest has heard.
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Haydon Croucher, 24, was found in his flat in Bletchley on November 14 last year, exactly nine months after Leah disappeared.

Despite desperate efforts to save him, he died in hospital two days later, surrounded by his family.

Days earlier he had been discharged from the city's acute mental health team, with his self-harm risk assessed as "low", and returned to the care of his GP.

Haydon and Leah CroucherHaydon and Leah Croucher
Haydon and Leah Croucher

Now, almost a year later, MK coroner Tom Osborne has criticised the Central and North West London NHS Trust (CNWL), which is commissioned to run Milton Keynes mental health services.

Recording a verdict of suicide, he said not enough consideration was given to admitting Haydon as a mental health patient and there was "no clear plan" about his future.

The coroner said: “There was no discharge plan in place and that has contributed to Haydon’s death.”

He added: "I am not satisfied an inpatient bed was discussed. It was a fundamental decision with regard to his future. It needed to be recorded. It is the case of the old adage if it is not recorded it did not happen. I do not believe it was considered. “

Haydon and Leah with dad John CroucherHaydon and Leah with dad John Croucher
Haydon and Leah with dad John Croucher

“There needed to be a clear plan in his case. There was no clear plan. We had a young man in crisis his parents needed to know the plan going forward. The discharge was not adequately risk assessed. The family was unaware.”

In a statement read to the coroner, Haydon's mum Tracey Furness said: “My son had a heart of gold. He did suffer with ill mental health and felt all emotions at their extreme.”

“He needed help. He was begging for help. Haydon felt uncared for. My only hope is that lessons have been learned.

Tracey added: “I do not consider enough time was given to Haydon to ensure recovery. At the time he was suffering with severe clinical depression and anxiety. He had a complex history of ill medical health and there had been two previous attempts at taking his life.”

Haydon with his mum TraceyHaydon with his mum Tracey
Haydon with his mum Tracey

The inquest heard how Haydon was becoming increasingly distressed at the lack of progress in finding out what happened to his half-sister Leah, who vanished on her way to work in MK on February 15 2019.

He had sessions with assistant mental health therapist Chantelle Tillison and told her he saw no future for himself.

Ms Tillison said: “He felt hopeless and said he would be better off dead. He explained Leah was still missing and found it difficult to cope."

She said she was so concerned she persuaded him to go in her car to Milton Keynes hospital for an assessment for admission.

“It was evident he was unwell,” she said.

The inquest heard Haydon was not admitted as an inpatient after saying he did not want to go to a psychiatric bed out of the area, because there were none available locally.

Dr Jibran Syeed, who was with the home treatment team, said he visited Haydon at home on October 18.

He said: “He (Haydon) had been quite a confident person and outgoing. He mentioned boxing and taekwondo. It was reflected by the medals in his home. Now he had no confidence, no motivation for the future and had thoughts of suicide in the past.”

At their second meeting, on November 8 - six days before Haydon took his own life - the doctor said he was more positive and was engaging with his family.

“He was getting on with certain chores and was trying to find a job. He was active in ideas about what he wanted to do. His suicide risk was lower.”

The doctor stopped his Resperidone - an antipsychotic drug, which is used to affect mood disorder. The doctor said Haydon had been on the drug since 2014, but there had been times when he had not been taking it. He said he made the assessment that he should stop taking it because it was a low dose and he was not “expressing psychosis".

The doctor agreed that he did not envisage Haydon being discharged from the home treatment team four days later.

Colin Garvey, a community psychiatric nurse with the Central and North West London NHS Trust, said that when Haydon seen at Milton Keynes hospital on October 18 there were no beds available locally. He said a plan was agreed for him to stay temporarily at his mother’s home.

Tom Osborne, the senior coroner for Milton Keynes, asked Mr Garvey: “If you had formed the only way to keep him safe was for him to be admitted you could have exercised your powers under the mental health act?”

Mr Garvey replied: “Yes.”

Mr Garvey said that he did not remember any member of staff objecting to Haydon being discharged from the mental health team and returned to the care of his GP on November 12.

CNWL spokesman Dr Stephanie Oldroyd told the inquest the trust accepted a serious incident report that pointed out that its crisis and home treatment team showed “poor identification of risk”.

She agreed there was no crisis management plan and that discharge planning had not been adequate.

Dr Oldroyd changes had been made, including increased supervision of staff, with improved care plans and risk assessment involving families.

Haydon Croucher’s dad John asked: “Who discharged my son? Why has it not been presented today?”

Milton Keynes Senior Coroner Tom Osborne recorded a verdict of suicide.

Anybody who feels suicidal can contact the Samaritans for a confidential chat at any time on 116 123.

* A year on, Leah Croucher, who would now be 21, is still missing and police are no further forward in discovering what happened to her.

If you have any information at all about Leah, please contact police immediately on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.