Warwick student’s death caused by psychosis, says inquest

Following the death of Warwick PhD student Carl Blakey, an inquest has ruled that he took his own life whilst suffering from psychosis.

Blakey passed away in May of last year after two nurses’ response to his call for help was delayed by over an hour.

As he was suffering from mental illness, he had been given access to a crisis team which would supposedly be able to reach him within twenty minutes of his call.

Tragically, this service was not carried out on the night that Blakey died.

An inquest was carried out on December 17, 2009, during which various witnesses including the two nurses involved in the case and Blakey’s mother gave evidence.

The inquest heard about his history of psychotic episodes, and his two previous stays at Caludon Centre mental hospital in Coventry.

Despite Blakey having heard voices instructing him to harm himself on previous occasions, the nurses who answered his call did not appear to take his plea for help as an emergency.

According to the Coventry Telegraph, the two nurses on duty at the time of the call were in Asda buying resources for another patient, and mistakenly took a longer route to Blakey’s home as well as stopping twice en route to swap vehicles and collect Blakey’s medical records.

In response to the apparent lack of urgency shown by the nurses involved, the Blakey family solicitor Stuart Bramley said “In the circumstances, the mental health care fell down on this.”

The statement was made with the information that when he was sectioned six months before his death, Blakey had been found with a kitchen knife.

Blakey’s mother believed that the onset of her son’s mental illness had been provoked by the use of alcohol and cannabis during his teenage years.

She said to the Coventry Telegraph that Blakey had been “extremely ashamed” of this and that he had “worked hard to overcome this dreadful illness.”

A brilliant student, Blakey had already completed three MA degrees and was working on his PhD before he passed away.

His mother has used the tragedy to urge young people to avoid the heavy use of drugs and alcohol, and to warn them of the possible implications for their mental health.