The mother of a 12-year-old girl who killed herself in a mental health unit today told an inquest she was ‘heartbroken beyond words’ to learn she had in fact been suffering from a treatable brain condition.
And Mia Lucas’s mother Chloe said she would ‘never have left her alone’ at the centre had she known the ‘extent’ of her self-harm attempts.
Mia was a ‘fun, bubbly girl with a real joy for life’ who enjoyed going horse-riding every weekend.
But after a minor viral infection in December 2023 she suddenly began making violent outbursts and complaining about ‘hearing voices’.
She was admitted to hospital in Nottingham where tests appeared to rule out a physical cause for her symptoms.
Mia was diagnosed with an ‘acute psychotic episode’ and detained under the Mental Health Act at a specialist psychiatric children’s unit in Sheffield.
Tragically, after observations were stepped down to every 15 minutes, the schoolgirl took her own life by wrapping items around her throat less than three weeks later.
Yesterday Mia’s mother sobbed as the sixth day of an inquest into Mia’s death was given bombshell new evidence that she had in fact been suffering from a treatable brain condition.
Mia, 12, was assessed for physical conditions after her admission to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham on New Year’s Eve in 2023 but all tests came back negative, an inquest heard
Mia Lucas was a ‘joyous, happy girl’, according to her mother, but after starting secondary school suffered ‘intense bullying’ which may have played a part in triggering a sudden ‘psychotic episode’
A pathologist told the jury she had just received results which proved the schoolgirl had been suffering from autoimmune encephalitis.
The ‘complex and rare’ condition – in which the immune system attacks healthy brain cells – can cause dramatic changes in behaviour.
An expert agreed the dramatic finding was ‘definitive’ proof that Mia’s sudden and frightening violent outbursts had not been caused by a mental health condition.
Delivering an emotional statement today, Chloe Hayes criticised the hospital which diagnosed Mia for not carrying out more tests.
And she accused staff at the Becton Centre in Sheffield – the specialist psychiatric unit where Mia was detained – of failing to keep her safe.
A number jurors at the inquest at the Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield were reduced to tears as Ms Haynes spelt out the events of Mia’s final weeks.
The mother-of-three, from Arnold, Nottinghamshire, described her eldest child Mia as ‘an extraordinary girl, full of light, joy and kindness’ who loved horse riding and dreamed of being a vet when she grew up.
She had been a ‘beautiful, happy little girl’ but at high school had experienced some bullying and believed she was overweight and began restricting her diet.
Mia Lucas, 12, pictured with her mother, Chloe Hayes, 33, who attended her inquest with a knitted doll made from a photograph of her daughter in her horse-riding clothing
Mia, 12, went horse-riding every weekend, but in 2023 she was admitted to hospital after she started ‘hearing voices’ and became ‘agitated’, tragically dying less than three weeks after being transferred to a specialist unit for treatment
In December 2023 she caught a viral infection and her behaviour changed, becoming prone to violent outbursts and saying she could hear noises.
After Mia punched, kicked and swore at her mother on New Year’s Eve, she got a knife from the kitchen and said she ‘wanted to go Heaven’, Ms Hayes told the inquest.
Mia was admitted to the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), in Nottingham, later that day, saying she heard voices telling her to harm herself and her family.
After a series of tests including an MRI scan of her brain, doctors concluded that the cause of her behaviour was not ‘organic’.
She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and then transferred to the Becton Centre, on January 9, 2024.
But Ms Hayes told the jury: ‘She didn’t have all the tests she needed. I felt they wanted her out of the hospital as soon as possible.’
After Mia attempted to strangle herself at the unit, her mother described begging nursing staff to remove it from Mia’s room.
But she said she was told it had to remain in place to preserve her ‘dignity’.
Mia Lucas, 12, was described by her mother as a ‘fun, bubbly girl with a real joy for life’
‘The Becton Centre failed to keep Mia safe and they didn’t listen to my concerns, despite telling them that something bad would happen,’ she added.
She said nurses also told her Mia had been bashing her head against a wall.
‘I visited Mia later that day and I was shocked to see my child with a swollen forehead, two black eyes and a massive bald patch on the top of her head,’ she said.
Ms Hayes also expressed fears to nursing staff that the regular observations on Mia were insufficient .
‘I was extremely worried that something bad would happen to Mia, due to her unpredictable behaviour.
‘But I felt that my concerns were not taken seriously.’
Despite being under surveillance, including hourly checks at night, Mia was found unresponsive in her room at about 11.30pm on January 29 and declared dead the next day.
She claimed nurses did not inform her fully about Mia’s previous attempts to tie ligatures around her neck.
Breaking down in tears, Ms Hayes said: ‘I would never have left Mia alone in there if I had known the full extent of what was happening.
‘I don’t believe that Mia wanted to take her own life. She was a happy child, who had so much to look forward to.’
Ms Hayes told the inquest that she visited her daughter’s body in the morgue and funeral parlour every day until her funeral on February 29.
Ms Hayes said more tests should have been conducted and those may have found Mia was suffering from autoimmune encephalitis.
‘I am heartbroken beyond words that there was a possibility that Mia could have had completely different treatment, and still be here today.
‘Mia’s life did not need to end. I believe her death could have been prevented.
“We reached out for help but she didn’t get the help she needed.
‘My daughter’s life has been taken away from her and me and it is a loss I will never recover from.’
Senior Coroner Tanyka Rawden will summarise the evidence for the jurors tomorrow before sending the jury out to consider its verdict.
– For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
