Judge says he ‘saved’ suicidal teenager
A leading High Court judge has said a suicidal girl may not have been saved without his public intervention.
Sir James Munby said he was concerned that the 17-year-old, known as X, would not have been found a bed had he not warned in a judgment last week that society would have “blood on our hands” if she was not helped.
She has now been found a specialist placement, where she is due to move on Friday.
In a new judgment handed down yesterday, the judge, who is head of the Family Division of the High Court, said: “I cannot escape the powerful feeling that, but for my judgment, the steps subsequently taken would have been neither as effective nor as speedily effective as appears to have been the case.
“This, however, is not a matter for congratulation; on the contrary, it is, of itself, yet further cause for concern.
“The provision of the care that someone like X needs should not be dependent upon judicial involvement, nor should someone like X be privileged just because her case comes before a very senior judge.”
Last week he said the case, which involved a girl at high risk of suicide, but who had no placement following her expected release from a secure unit on August 14, made him “ashamed” of the mental health system.