Inquiry into death of autistic teenager begins

Teenager Harris Macdonell died in August 2020

The mother of a teenager who took his own life has told an inquiry that she has to live with her decision to allow him to be placed in an adult psychiatric ward.

Harris Macdonell died in 2020 at the age of 19.

His mother Dr Jane Macdonell, a former paediatric consultant, told a fatal accident inquiry into his death that she had been unable to cope when his behaviour started to deteriorate when he was 16.

The inquiry, at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, is expected to continue for another three days.

The hearing was told that Harris, of Lilliesleaf in the Borders, had told his GP that he had had suicidal thoughts.

"We were shocked about what he had said, that he'd had suicidal thoughts," said Dr Macdonell.

"We were very frightened, this was a big change. I came off work to be with him.

"We felt things were getting out of control, I didn't know what to do, I was just so worried about him, about him harming himself. How was I going to be able to watch him 24 hours a day?

"I just needed some help with him, I tried to do it on my own but I was just so out of my depth."

Harris had to be admitted to an adult psychiatric ward as there were no spaces in the Young Persons Units (YPU) in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee.

Dr Macdonell said the family originally thought Harris should be admitted to the Huntlyburn Hospital near Melrose as it was the best place for his care and security.

But the inquiry heard that within a few months she regretted the decision not to keep Harris at home.

"I should never have let him go. I have to live with that," she said.

Dr Macdonell was later asked what she thought of the medical and psychiatric team that had looked after her son.

"On balance, I think they did more harm than good," she said.

"What positive outcome was there, what did it do for him in his life?"

The inquiry is being held at Jedburgh Sheriff Court

Earlier the inquiry had heard that Harris had tried to abscond from the hospital on several occasions.

On one occasion he had been picked up by hospital staff out looking for him. On the drive back he threw himself out of the moving vehicle and had to have plastic surgery for his injuries.

"Even after that they were still going to send him back to Huntlyburn because there was no bed for him in a YPU," said Dr Macdonell.

"There was absolutely no way that was going to happen.

"Clearly it was not safe for him, he was frightened, he was not adequately supervised."

After treatment for his injuries for jumping out of the car, a place was found for Harris in a YPU in Edinburgh.

The inquiry heard a long history of the treatment he had received in the years before his death.

Sometimes his behaviour had been likened to any teenager experiencing difficulties, particularly during Covid lockdown.

In one of the final meetings with medical and psychiatric staff it was noted that Harris was still having problems with the medications he had been prescribed and that he still did not accept his autism diagnosis.

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