Death of girl, 14, in suicide prevention centre was 'foreseeable'
- Published
A health board has been fined £70,000 over the "foreseeable" death of a teenage girl who was living in a suicide prevention centre in Glasgow.
Louise Menzies, 14, took her own life at Skye House, a purpose-built unit at Glasgow's Stobhill Hospital.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard there had been an "erroneous belief" about the risks in the unit's apparently "suicide-proof" en suite bedrooms.
Louise was found unresponsive in her bathroom in September 2013.
She was taken to hospital but never recovered.
An investigation was launched into her death.
'Failings persisted'
Last week, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde admitted two charges of breaking the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Passing sentence on Wednesday, Sheriff Daniel Scullion said there had been "no cogent explanation" for how the risks in the building had "came to exist and thereafter persist".
He said that the incident which led to Louise's death was "foreseeable".
"The failings in these case persisted over a lengthy period of time. In my judgement these failings were plainly serious," he added.
The court heard Skye House deals with young people with a wide range of mental health issues.
Louise - who was described as intelligent and talented - had been admitted to the unit for the second time in August 2013.
The health board's QC, Peter Gray, said "robust steps" had been taken to address the "failing" at the centre.