A public investigation investigating over 2,000 mental health fatalities heard testimony from a former professional football player who passed away following his release from an inpatient mental health institution.
Colin Flatt Cause of Death:
A public investigation investigating over 2,000 mental health fatalities heard testimony from a former professional football player who passed away following his release from an inpatient mental health institution.
81-year-old Colin Flatt, who represented Barnet in the 1972 FA Trophy final at Wembley, was referred to as a “successful businessman” during the Lampard Inquiry. Melanie Leahy, his 20-year companion, has been a leading factor behind the need to investigate the fatalities in Essex.
Her 20-year-old son Matthew also passed away nine years prior while receiving care from the county’s NHS mental health services. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Flatt played football for Southend United, Leyton Orient, and Romford. He passed away in 2021, three months after being released from an inpatient mental health facility operated by the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).
The medical professionals suggested that he be admitted to a mental health facility when he was first brought to the hospital for a physical health issue. Ms. Leahy testified before the Chelmsford investigation, saying, “What brought me here today is how an 80-year-old man ended up naked, between security guards, at the foot of a hospital bed, with a severe infection.”
I stood by helplessly as I saw the guy I loved fall apart in front of me. She expressed experiencing “dread and deja vu” as she continued to await an inquest into his death. Ms. Leahy had previously made a different statement about Matthew’s 2012 death. She said that her son spent the final eight days of his life “in a place… I truly believe was hell on Earth” at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford. “I miss them both so much,” she declared.
Alan Oxton, whose 53-year-old father Stephen committed himself in 2012 at The Lakes mental health facility in Colchester, also testified before the committee.
Mr. Oxton recalled his father, an ardent Arsenal supporter, and him watching football games.
He claimed that after being persuaded by The Lakes personnel that his father was in a secure environment, he felt utterly misled. During his inquiry, several inadequacies were discovered.
According to Mr. Oxton, he is “still struggling today,” and the death has had a “catastrophic effect on my own life.”
He said that he was “still none the wiser” regarding his father’s death despite earlier inquiries.
A year later, 40-year-old Marion Turner was discovered dead at The Lakes.
When Ms. Turner was a small girl, her father, an army man, was killed in a bombing in Northern Ireland. Her mother, Martha Gaskell, who traveled from Stoke-on-Trent to the hearing, told the story.
Ms. Turner later married a soldier, but her mental state worsened as she traveled the globe.
According to Ms. Gaskell, she was “frustrated, angry, and very hurt that I was never listened to as her mother” and that her daughter “did not get the care she needed.”
According to Paul Scott, the chief executive of Essex Partnership University Trust, the organization offers the majority of the county’s mental health services: “We will continue to do all we can to support Baroness Lampard and her team to provide the answers that patients, families, and carers are seeking.”
NELFT, which offers children and adolescent services and dementia crisis care in some areas of Essex, stated: “We are dedicated to learning from the work of the inquiry, and patient safety is our top priority.” Next week, the investigation will last two days, followed by a third, three-week phase in November.
Additional sessions are scheduled for 2025, and it is doubtful that a complete report will be released before the end of 2026.
