Inquest to open into woman’s death amid concerns over health care and policing

An inquest is to open into the death of a woman under mental health care following a police search.

Meghan Chrismas was 48 years old when she died a self-inflicted death on 20 October 2021, two days after being located by police in a hotel room.

An inquest is now due to take place at Surrey Coroner’s Court to establish the circumstances of her death and examine her interactions with various organisations including the police and healthcare practitioners.

Chrismas was born in Australia. After travelling around Europe in 2004, she found herself in the UK with family friends. She met her future husband and decided to stay in the UK to start a family.

She had a history of mental ill-health and experienced a decline in her mental health in 2021. This resulted in her being a voluntary inpatient at the Priory Hospital Roehampton for part of July 2021 and taking an overdose in October the same year.

She received mental health care from a number of professionals, including her GP, a consultant psychiatrist and an eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapist.

On 18 October 2021, Chrismas left her family home. She sent text messages to her husband saying that she was going to take her own life. Her husband called Hampshire Police to report his concerns for her welfare.

She was located at a hotel in Surrey, following her contact with emergency services. Hampshire Police subsequently emailed to request Surrey Police’s attendance at the hotel. A follow up call to Surrey Police was made approximately an hour after this initial email.

Surrey Police arrived at the hotel, however she was already unconscious, having attempted to take her own life. She was resuscitated and transported to hospital but died two days later.

Charity Inquest said her family have significant concerns about the mental health care, treatment and medication she received prior to her death as well as the responses from Hampshire and Surrey police forces on 18 October 2021. The inquest will now explore:

• The care and treatment she received prior to her death, including communication between various healthcare providers, medication she was provided and her mental health deterioration; and
• The response by police to the communications relating to concerns for her welfare and safety on 18 October 2021 as well as the events leading up to the police’s attendance at the hotel, including whether there were any missed opportunities.

The inquest will open on 11 April and is expected to last for nine days, concluding on 21 April.