PAYOUT OVER TRAGIC PARA
THE family of an ex-para who killed himself have won a payout from health chiefs after missed opportunities to save him.
Dad- of- three Aidan Knight, who served in Iraq, quit the Army after telling his mum he had seen too much death.
The 29-year-old tried to get help from mental health professionals for suspected post-traumatic stress disorder.
Just days before his death he was told he would have to wait because the mental health worker he had been assigned was on holiday. Now a letter of apology has been issued by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to his family for the failings.
And Aidan’s three young children from two former partners are to receive a six-figure payout to split between them.
His mum Angie Aleksejuk, 55, from Stafford, said: “He ticked all the boxes of being at risk – a former serviceman, under 30, he had lost his brother, lived alone and he even presented himself to A&E – but he slipped through the net.”
Aidan was found dead in a park in Crawley, West Sussex, in 2015.
Alice Hardy of lawyers Hodge Jones & Allen, who represented Aidan’s fa f a mily, s a i d: “We ap appreciate the trust’s ap apology but it is crucial th that they learn from this av avoidable tragedy to make sure nobody else is failed s like this ever again.”
A trust spokesman said: “Following this tragic incident we now p provide a specialist m mental health service to
support veterans.”