Yesterday morning, HM Assistant Coroner Taylor – sitting in Croydon Coroner’s Court – began hearing evidence in the inquest of a 17-year-old trans teenager who had changed his name to Axel Kai Ford. Axel died by ingesting a poisonous substance (which he had purchased online) on 23 July 2022. Shortly before his death, Axel (who had been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in childhood) was detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 on a Low Secure Ward in Hampshire. At the time of his death, Axel resided in semi-independent accommodation.
Shortly before this inquest, the Metropolitan Police Service confirmed that they had checked Axel’s personal devices which revealed that he had searched a number of words relating to suicide online, including a pro-suicide website (where users counsel each other to take their own lives) shortly before he died. The police reported that, just nine days before he died, Axel had ordered a package containing a poisonous substance but had accidentally had it delivered to an earlier hospital address.
In his opening remarks, the coroner shared the questions that were at the forefront of his mind when hearing the evidence. The coroner said that he would be exploring whether there were any shortcomings in Axel’s mental health care on leaving psychiatric hospital which caused or contributed to his death. As part of that question, the coroner said that he would like to know which of the interested persons – if any – was monitoring Axel’s internet use, and received the package containing a poisonous substance addressed to Axel on 14 July 2022.
The bereaved family are supported by INQUEST and are represented by Basmah Sahib of Bindmans LLP. Basmah said:
The bereaved family are pleased that the coroner has brought the pertinent issues in this tragic death into sharp focus at the very outset of Axel’s inquest.
Daniel Grutters of One Pump Court is representing the bereaved family. He is assisted by William Heath, who is a pupil at One Pump Court chambers.
Other interested persons to this inquest include London Borough of Bexley, Social Care London, South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust (which has changed its name to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust).