Tom Beamont appeared on behalf of the family of TikTok influencer Imogen Nunn, known as Immy, at her inquest. Tom was instructed by Caleb Bawdon and Olivia Fletcher of Leigh Day.
Imogen, who was profoundly deaf, was an advocate for deaf people who interacted with mental health services. She had experienced significant mental health challenges from the age of 14 and had spent extended periods as an inpatient in mental health facilities.
Imogen died on the 1st January 2023 after taking a poisonous substance she had ordered online. The day before Imogen had told her psychologist that she did not feel safe and had a plan to kill herself by drinking the poisonous substance.
The Senior Coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Penelope Schofield concluded that a series of failings in the care provided by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) contributed to her death. These included:
- Failing to review her care plan following a suicide attempt in October 2022
- Failing to put in place safeguarding measures following being advised that Immy had accessed a suicide forum, and had disclosed that she had purchased a substance online
- Failing to have a face-to-face appointment with Immy on 30 December 2022 to assess her risk
Mid-way through the inquest, the Coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) report, highlighting serious concerns about the lack of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, as the Court had been unable to secure interpreter availability for the proceedings. Following the Inquest, the Coroner issued a further PFD reports to national organisations in relation to the training and recruitment of interpreters, and to SPFT in light of concerns about its incident review process.
Read more about the inquest here:
