Testimony at a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) was provided by a consultant psychiatrist who asserted that no clinical interventions could have saved Harris Macdonnell, prior to the demise of the Borders adolescent.
Dr. Brian Timney, appearing as an expert witness, detailed that it was not possible to predict the possible results during the treatment of Harris Macdonnell, who sadly died by his own hand in August 2020 at 19 years of age. It is worth highlighting that Mr. Macdonnell had a diagnosis of autism.
The family-created website called the Harris Trust states that Mr. Macdonnell was bullied and was constantly fighting against issues of personal identity and societal acceptance. Those conflicts drove him to the point of being mentally ill. The Harris Trust report goes on to say that Macdonnell's attempts to engage with the mental health system were almost uniformly traumatic, and that being told he was autistic only worsened his mental state.
Before he died, the 19-year-old was taken to an adult mental health hospital near Melrose because he could not be placed in a specialised unit for young persons—there simply was no space available. Now investigators are trying to learn what happened during the month between his admission to the hospital and his unexpected death.
The investigation uncovered that allowing young people into adult psychiatric units should happen only under rare conditions and as a stopgap. Moreover, it strongly suggested that anyone who gets admitted be watched constantly.
The hearing featured testimony from Dr. Timney. He stated that although it is not unusual for a young person to be sent to an adult psychiatric center, such stays are normally quite short. Most of the time, a minor will not be in an adult facility for more than two or three days. Yet here was Mr. Macdonnell, having been placed in an adult unit for almost ten days. The unit he was in is called Huntlyburn, and it is located near Melrose in Scotland.
Dr. Timney asserted that he believed the appropriate protocols were adhered to throughout the course of the treatment of the adolescent. He opined that the circumstances surrounding Mr. Macdonnell's death could not have been anticipated or averted.
The investigation had earlier taken testimonies from Professor Peter Hill, a psychiatric consultant. In his testimony, Professor Hill indicated that the minor displayed unmistakable signs of distress stemming from his time in the adult unit. The minor also showed signs of wanting to escape from the adult unit. Professor Hill noted that the experiences in the adult unit may have played a role in how uncooperative Mr. Macdonnell became after the events in question when it came to dealing with medical personnel. However, Professor Hill was careful to say that he could not say for sure that the adult unit was the cause of the minor's issues with medical personnel.
Professor Hill stated that he did not consider the death of Mr. Macdonnell to be foreseeable; nonetheless, he voiced doubt as to whether an alternative methodology or therapeutic intervention could have averted the tragic end.
The Harris Trust works to raise awareness of and train people in the subjects of mental health and neurodiversity.
https://harristrust.org/about
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