A SHERIFF branded the death of a teenager who took her own life at a centre set up to stop suicides “foreseeable.”
Louise Menzies, 14, was a patient at Skye House - a purpose built £7.6 million unit at Glasgow's Stobhill Hospital for troubled youngsters.
It had been described as a “home away from home” for those being looked after there with apparently “suicide-proof, ensuite bedrooms,”
But, in September 2013, Louise was found unconscious in her bathroom.
The teenager - described as “intelligent and talented” - was rushed to hospital, but never recovered.
A probe was then launched into why the death occurred.
Staff had believed that “everything” at Skye House was “anti-ligature.”
But, Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board - in charge of the facility - ended up being hit with a criminal prosecution and have been fined £70,00.
Last week, they admitted two charges of flouting the Health and Safety at Work Act in connection with Louise’s death, between 2009 when the centre opened and 2013 when Louise tragically died.
On Wednesday, sheriff Daniel Scullion said: “It’s plain that an incident such as that which lead to and ended in this tragic death was foreseeable.
“The failings in these case persisted over a lengthy period of time, in my judgement these failings were plainly serious.”
Last year, the health board was fined £100,000 after two patients took their own lives in two different hospitals.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted health and safety failings at the same court and acknowledged that it had failed to carry out proper observations, leading to the two deaths.
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