Mum believes carers should have prevented teenage son’s death

INQUEST HEARS ‘LOVING’ 16-YEAR-OLD WALKED IN FRONT OF A TRAIN

THE mother of a suicidal teenager who died after walking in front of a train told his inquest professionals who were caring for him before the tragedy should have been able to prevent his death.

Troubled student David Edwards Gill, 16, from Wigan, died when he stepped in front of a train on the West Coast Main Line near Standish on October 29, 2016.

David was said to have told his mother ‘I love you mum, see you later’ before leaving for a friend’s party.

He later dialled 999 and told the operator he ‘felt **** ’ and was ‘getting run over by a train.’

The inquest heard the driver saw David, possibly holding his phone, walk in front of the train as it was travelling between 50mph and 60mph.

His mother, Dr Lisa Edwards, told the hearing in Bolton that David was a ‘loving son with a mischievous sense of humour.’

David, who had learning difficulties, had ‘mood swings’ as he was growing up and would ‘brood’ and ‘often take incidents personally,’ his mother said.

In May 2015, Dr Edwards had a call from a friend of her older son who said David had told him he had wanted to end his own life.

When she asked David about it, he admitted to a ‘very low mood,’ the inquest heard.

A referral was made to child and adolescent mental heath services, but an assessment of David didn’t take place until the following month, said Dr Edwards.

By August 26, 2015, David was provided with a care plan as he was said to be suffering from low mood and anxiety.

Around three months later another care plan was put in place to tackle his problems with anger management and self-esteem, the inquest was told.

David self-harmed for the first time in January 2016, although his injuries were ‘fairly superficial,’ according to his mother.

Dr Edwards broke down as she described a second self-harming incident after which David said he wanted to take his own life.

By February 12, 2016, David was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and prescribed an antidepressant after admitting he was bothered by thoughts he wanted to hurt or kill someone.

David was discharged on March 29, 2016, and his family was assured he would continue to have ‘intensive support,’ according to Dr Edwards.

The teenager attended a number of consultations with a psychiatrist together with his mother, but Dr Edwards told the hearing four letters about those meetings played down her concerns and were sent to the wrong GP.

David claimed to be taking cannabis and cocaine and said he was a member of a gang called ‘the heretics,’ although his mother said this was ‘fantasy.’

He assaulted a boy at a project called The Youth Zone on October 1, 2016, and the following day he assaulted his own mother, throwing a glass decanter on the floor and then grabbing her by the throat, the inquest heard.

Dr Edwards told the inquest that no multi-disciplinary meeting was called, as had happened previously.

On October 10, 2016, David selfharmed again, which his parents believed was a ‘cry for help,’ the inquest heard.

Dr Edwards said her son had been expressing suicidal thoughts ‘all the time’ and had discussed the railway line about 18 months before his death.

She continued: “I just feel in the lead up to his death the care that he received should have been able to predict that. It should have been able to predict his death and prevent it.”

Toxicology tests revealed no evidence of cannabis or cocaine in David’s system, although there was evidence of the antidepressant he had been prescribed, the inquest heard.

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The care he received should have been able to predict his death and prevent it

David’s mum Dr Lisa Edwards