College unaware of suicidal teen’s mental state, coroner warns

Poor messaging between college and mental health services, coroner deems

Poor messaging between college and mental health services, coroner deems

A coroner has raised concerns about poor communication between a college and mental health services after an excluded student with ADHD killed himself. 

Henry Grierson was 17 when he died a few days after he was permanently excluded by Huddersfield New College in April. 

The inquest, which concluded late last month, found Henry’s death was contributed to by failings of communication between the college, local authority Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and drugs and alcohol support charity Recovery Steps when he withdrew himself from treatment. 

In a prevention of future deaths report, published on Tuesday, assistant coroner Angela Brocklehurst concluded: “It is a matter of concern that communication between the college and CAMHS and Recovery Steps was not seemingly maintained to enable an awareness by the college of the current mental health of Mr Grierson and the decisions taken by himself and his family, to remove such external support.” 

Henry’s mother Ruth Grierson claimed Huddersfield New College had made “woefully inadequate adjustments” since his death and lambasted leaders for a lack of “reassurance and guidance” and zero communication after he was initially suspended over a fight with another student. 

The college has now called for clearer guidance on when education providers should be updated by mental health services on students’ treatment. 

A Huddersfield New College spokesperson said: “We would welcome anything that would support enhanced communication between organisations such as CAMHS and schools and colleges and think that this is a conversation that needs to be had at a much higher level. 

“Having clearer guidance about what triggers communications from such organisations would be very valuable clarity for the whole sector.” 

Henry, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder aged 10, discharged himself from CAMHS last November with parental approval. 

His family said he began to self-medicate as his prescribed medication caused “intolerable” side effects. A week before he died Henry also left Recovery Steps. 

The inquest heard the safeguarding team at Huddersfield New College was unaware of Henry’s current mental health or that he had withdrawn from CAMHS. The most up-to-date communication they received from mental health services was in October 2023. 

Shortly before his death the college had permanently excluded Henry over a violent incident with another student. 

It told Henry of his exclusion in an email, which his mother Ruth said meant he received the “devastating news without the reassurance and guidance he needed at such a vulnerable time”. 

The college has since apologised for how the news was delivered. A spokesperson said the college had reviewed how difficult news was shared with students but stood by the decision to exclude him. 

They said: “We have strengthened our process to work with families to understand how we can share information with a student after an exclusion decision has been made. This includes understanding how we share information about topics such as the appeals process.” 

Ruth Grierson, who told FE Week the college treated her son’s needs as “problems”, said: “Such minimal changes fail to address the core issues and seem unlikely to prevent similar situations in the future. 

“We feel that Henry was let down by systems that didn’t fully understand or support him. 

“Exclusion should have been a last resort; what Henry really needed was understanding and proactive support to help him thrive. Colleges need to do better with their understanding of neurodivergent vulnerable students.” 

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