Footballer kept like animal at NHS unit, says family

Colin Flatt was subjected to "appalling neglect and abuse", his partner said.

An ex-professional footballer admitted to a mental health facility was treated "like an out-of-control animal that could only be managed by pumping him full of drugs", an inquiry into the deaths of more than 2,000 people heard.

Melanie Leahy told the Lampard Inquiry her partner Colin Flatt, 81, faced "the most appalling neglect and abuse imaginable" before he died in 2021.

Mr Flatt, who played for clubs including Leyton Orient and Cambridge United, was moved between 12 different NHS settings in his final months alive.

The NHS organisations concerned have apologised or said they were working to improve standards of care.

The Lampard Inquiry has been examining the deaths of more than 2,000 people at NHS-run mental health units in Essex between 2000 and 2023.

Ms Leahy, whose 20-year-old son Matthew died in 2012 while a patient at a mental health facility, had long campaigned for the inquiry.

She said Mr Flatt "stood beside me in the long fight for truth after Matthew's death".

"Neither of us could imagine that years later, Colin himself would become part of the very story this inquiry is now examining," she said.

Melanie Leahy said she and Mr Flatt had planned to travel the world together

Ms Leahy is due to give evidence about her son's case next year, but on Wednesday gave evidence about what happened to her partner of 19 years, Mr Flatt.

"We had both worked very hard all our lives and were looking forward to what would have been for him his golden years," she said.

"We had many plans, including travelling the world together, and all this came to an abrupt and brutal end, courtesy of the so-called professionals who are meant to provide care and treatment."

Mr Flatt sought treatment for "very minor and easily treatable health issues" at Broomfield Hospital in May 2021, his partner said.

But he was then admitted to a mental health facility, Goodmayes Hospital, run by North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

"Instead of providing Colin with the care and treatment he needed, the chosen response of those looking after him was to chemically sedate him," she said.

"Once they had embarked on that trajectory, although I didn't know it at the time, there was only one direction in which things would go."

Mr Flatt died after falling over the railings of a first-floor landing at Basildon Hospital

In a section of her witness statement read to the inquiry, Ms Leahy said: "The drugs they were giving Colin were turning a mild and gentle man into a monster.

"The staff were determined to treat Colin like an out-of-control animal that could only be managed by pumping him full of drugs."

Ms Leahy alleged her partner wanted to come home, but the response from staff was to "inject him, pin him down, restrain him".

Three months after he was discharged, Mr Flatt died after falling over the railings of a first-floor landing at Basildon Hospital.

Rachel Troup, counsel to the inquiry, said Ms Leahy believed her campaign around her son's death affected how staff treated her and Mr Flatt.

An NHS-commissioned investigation found on 15 October that Mr Flatt had his human rights breached.

Both the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) offered their condolences to Mr Flatt's loved ones.

The Lampard Inquiry continues.

Colin Flatt (middle of the seated row) was in Leyton Orient's squad when they were in the old Second Division in 1965