Student who took his own life was ‘left in black hole’
THE body of a Birmingham student who took his own life was found in woodland where he and his family walked their dog, an inquest heard.
Dan Collins, 22, of Kensington Avenue, Sparkbrook, was found in an area of Moseley Bog on April 28 this year. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination revealed he had taken a fatal overdose of a prescription anti-depressant.
An inquest into his death heard he had been assessed by a number of healthcare professionals in the weeks leading to his death, but had fallen into ‘a black hole’ in mental health services.
Now a coroner will write a report aimed at preventing future deaths.
Mr Collins, who was studying English with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham, was described by his family as ‘a lovely lad and a really clever boy’ who loved poetry and music.
James Bennett, Assistant Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, heard he was ‘in crisis’ in the weeks before his death and was granted extensions for coursework because both his mother and grandmother were suffering ill health.
He had also recently split up with his girlfriend of five months following an ‘intense’ relationship.
Birmingham Coroner’s Court heard he had struggled with the break-up and his ex-girlfriend had twice contacted the university with fears about his mental health.
Mr Collins took a large overdose of paracetamol three weeks before his death and spent two days in Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He was seen there by nurses from Birmingham’s Rapid, Assessment, Interface and Discharge (RAID) team, a specialist mental health service, on April 8 and 9 and was discharged on April 9.
Zara Welch, one of the RAID team nurses who carried out an assessment, said: “My main concerns for Dan were not what he was telling us.
“He seemed flat – he said all the right things but he did present as someone who needed some help.”
The court heard he was discharged as he did not meet the criteria for sectioning, was not a risk to himself or others, had ‘full capacity and insight’ and was willing to accept help.
The following day, Mr Collins was visited at home by Luise Chitima, a senior mental health practitioner with Forward Thinking Birmingham’s crisis team.
She said he appeared ‘bright and cheerful’ and did not report experiencing low mood.
He was transferred from Forward Thinking Birmingham to mental health counselling service the Living Well Consortium (LWC).
He was given a leaflet and told of ways to contact them. But the inquest heard he never contacted the service.
The coroner said he was ‘more than satisfied’ the RAID nurses were the ‘appropriate people’ to see him and were ‘competent’ in what they did.
But he told the court : “I do not think the contact he had with mental health services on April 8, 9 and 10 could be described as comprehensive.
“What concerns me is that at that point Dan fell into a black hole in mental health services. There was no follow-up for Dan.”
He stressed it was not a criticism of nurses but was ‘a gap in the system’.
Mr Bennett concluded Mr Collins had taken his own life and that this had been his intention.