Questions over mysterious death in mental health hospital

A mental health trust says it is planning to install CCTV following the death of a patient in mysterious circumstances.

Maria Morris, 44, was found unresponsive at Bethlem Hospital in south London on 21 September 2021 with four socks down her throat, and a large unexplained bruise on her back.

She died hours later in hospital from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen. A consultant who treated her questioned whether she had been assaulted.

An inquest jury at South London Coroners' court concluded that her death was accidental, but her family says they still have questions about what led to her death.

The inquest heard that Maria Morris, who worked as a teaching assistant, had bi-polar affective disorder.

In September 2021, her family and friends became concerned when she started acting erratically and found that she had stopped taking her medication.

She was transferred to Bethlem Royal Hospital, a mental health hospital run by South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLAM), on 18 September where she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

The jury was told that while Maria was on the unit, she raised a number of concerns about how staff were treating patients. She told one member of staff that patients were being "punished" at night.

On the evening of the 21 September, Maria was observed by staff in her room at 20:00 and then again at 20:30. At 21:23, a member of staff found her unconscious on the floor of her room, having had a cardiac arrest.

During attempts to resuscitate her, a sock was found in her throat. When paramedics arrived, three further socks were removed from her throat.

By the time she was transferred to Croydon University Hospital, she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury. A few hours later she went into cardiac arrest again and died on 22 September.

The jury was told that Dr Simon Wood, an intensive care doctor at Croydon Hospital who treated Maria, alerted the police to a large bruise on her back.

He also said that, in his view, a patient wouldn't have been able to push socks down their own throat without gagging. He was concerned that this may have indicated she'd been assaulted.

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Source: BBC News, 14 October 2025