Wickford mental health patient was trusted to use knife, inquest hears
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The headquarters of the Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT) which runs nearby Brockfield House
An inpatient at a secure mental health unit died of self-inflicted stab wounds despite being deemed at low risk of self-harm, an inquest heard.
Marion Michel, 56, was pronounced dead by paramedics at Brockfield House in Wickford, Essex, on 4 March 2022.
The jury at Essex Coroners' Court heard she had been trusted to use an 18cm (7in) kitchen knife to prepare food.
Ms Michel was later found locked in a bathroom with 30 stab wounds to her chest and neck.
Area coroner Sean Horstead heard Ms Michel had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1998, and experienced periods of intense mental ill health, during which she had harmed herself - and, on two occasions, her partner.
She was transferred to Brockfield House from prison in Jersey following a conviction for stabbing her partner in 2018.
In 2022 she was assessed by doctors and psychiatrists as presenting a "low risk" to herself and others.
Marion Michel had been looking forward to being discharged from the unit in time for her father's birthday, an inquest heard
Ms Michel was transferred to the Aurora unit, which allowed patients greater freedoms before discharge. She had hoped to leave the unit by August in time for her father's birthday, the inquest was told.
A pathologist concluded she died from a haemorrhage caused by her injuries, with paranoid schizophrenia given as an underlying cause.
The Wickford facility is run by the Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT), which is currently the subject of a public inquiry into the deaths of 2,000 patients between 2000 and 2020.
However, as Ms Michel's death took place in 2022, it will not come within the scope of the inquiry.
A statement from her sister, Karen, read to the inquest jury, described Ms Michel as "a fighter" who recovered from periods of ill health and who loved food, travel and family occasions.
She said she had been concerned about how her sister was dealing with a two-week lockdown imposed on the unit in February 2022 due to a Covid outbreak, when contact was reduced to Skype calls.
She added that Ms Michel was about to start "an exciting new chapter in her life" and that her death had been "one of the hardest things for her loved ones, as we had been waiting for the time we could all be together again".
The inquest continues until 14 July.
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