Rochdale Grooming Survivor Took Her Own Life After 'Serious Failings' in Mental Health Care, Inquest Finds
Macclesfield – A survivor of the Rochdale grooming scandal tragically ended her life after being repeatedly failed by mental health services, a coroner has concluded. The inquest heard she had explicitly warned medics of her plans just weeks before her death.
Charlotte Tetley, 33, died after being struck by a train in Macclesfield last year, having deliberately sat on the railway line. An inquest this week revealed the depth of her struggle with severe mental health conditions and substance misuse, which she developed to cope with the profound trauma of her childhood abuse.
For the first time, Ms. Tetley was officially identified in court as one of the victims of the notorious grooming gang whose crimes horrified the nation and resulted in dozens of convictions.
The court heard that Ms. Tetley had only recently moved to Macclesfield from Rochdale in 2023 in an attempt to find peace, after learning that one of her convicted abusers had returned to her hometown.
Coroner Sarah Murphy highlighted a series of 'serious concerns' about the care Ms. Tetley received in the months leading up to her death. Despite informing doctors she was suicidal, she was discharged from hospital without being allocated a crucial mental health bed.
The inquest was told that her behaviour showed a pattern of escalating risk and repeated cries for help. In June 2024, she directly warned medics that she was thinking of jumping in front of a train, yet her treatment was limited to short reviews. On another occasion, she had to be physically removed from railway tracks by community staff.
In a desperate phone call, she contacted her probation officer 'screaming' that she intended to take her own life. In her final hours, both police and ambulance services recorded her as a high-risk missing person but failed to dispatch officers to search for her.
In a formal Prevention of Future Deaths report, Coroner Murphy warned that systemic flaws could endanger other vulnerable people. "There is a risk that patients are removed from the inpatient bed list before an appropriate review that day by a mental health professional", she stated, pointing to a critical gap in patient safety protocols.
The coroner has written to the Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust, demanding a response to her concerns. The Trust has been given until November 9th to outline the actions it will take to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Charlotte Tetley, 33, died after being struck by a train in Macclesfield last year, having deliberately sat on the railway line. An inquest this week revealed the depth of her struggle with severe mental health conditions and substance misuse, which she developed to cope with the profound trauma of her childhood abuse.
For the first time, Ms. Tetley was officially identified in court as one of the victims of the notorious grooming gang whose crimes horrified the nation and resulted in dozens of convictions.
The court heard that Ms. Tetley had only recently moved to Macclesfield from Rochdale in 2023 in an attempt to find peace, after learning that one of her convicted abusers had returned to her hometown.
Coroner Sarah Murphy highlighted a series of 'serious concerns' about the care Ms. Tetley received in the months leading up to her death. Despite informing doctors she was suicidal, she was discharged from hospital without being allocated a crucial mental health bed.
The inquest was told that her behaviour showed a pattern of escalating risk and repeated cries for help. In June 2024, she directly warned medics that she was thinking of jumping in front of a train, yet her treatment was limited to short reviews. On another occasion, she had to be physically removed from railway tracks by community staff.
In a desperate phone call, she contacted her probation officer 'screaming' that she intended to take her own life. In her final hours, both police and ambulance services recorded her as a high-risk missing person but failed to dispatch officers to search for her.
In a formal Prevention of Future Deaths report, Coroner Murphy warned that systemic flaws could endanger other vulnerable people. "There is a risk that patients are removed from the inpatient bed list before an appropriate review that day by a mental health professional", she stated, pointing to a critical gap in patient safety protocols.
The coroner has written to the Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust, demanding a response to her concerns. The Trust has been given until November 9th to outline the actions it will take to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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