Hospital and manager guilty over patient death
A hospital trust and a staff member have been found guilty of health and safety failings over the death of a young woman in a mental health unit.
Alice Figueiredo, 22, was being treated at Goodmayes Hospital, east London, when she took her own life in July 2015, having previously made many similar attempts.
Following a seven-month trial at the Old Bailey, a jury found that not enough was done by the North East London Foundation NHS Trust (NELFT) or ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa to prevent Alice from killing herself.
The trust was cleared of the more serious charge of corporate manslaughter, while Aninakwa, 53, of Grays in Essex, was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter.
The jury deliberated for 24 days to reach all the verdicts, setting a joint record in the history of British justice, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Both the trust and Aninakwa were convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
It was only the second time an NHS trust has faced a corporate manslaughter charge.
During the trial, prosecutors said that not only was Alice repeatedly able to self-harm while she was in hospital, but that these incidents were not properly recorded or assessed.
The court also heard there were concerns about Benjamin Aninakwa's communication, efficiency, clinical and leadership skills.
The trust had previously placed him on a performance improvement plan for three years, which ended in December 2014.
In addition, there was a high turnover of agency staff on the ward, the court heard.
Mrs Figueiredo says she raised concerns about her daughter's care verbally and in writing on a number of occasions to the hospital and to Mr Aninakwa.
After Alice died, she said the family found it very difficult to get answers about what happened.
For nearly a decade they gathered evidence and pressed both the police and the CPS to take action.
Source: BBC News, 9 June 2025