24 January 2024

This is a press release by Saunders Law, reshared by INQUEST

Before: HM Assistant Coroner Michael Wall 
At: Nottingham Coroner’s Court 
Final hearing commences: 24 January 2024 
Scheduled to last 11 days (concluding 07/02/2024) 
Interested Persons (‘IPs’): deceased’s family, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (‘NHCT’), East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (‘EMAS’), and the Care Quality Commission (‘CQC’)

Daniel Tucker died on 22 April 2022, after ingesting a substance he had purchased through the online forum. He died within a matter of hours after his release from a formal in-patient admission at Highbury Hospital, Nottingham. Now an Article 2 inquest will take place before a jury, to examine the circumstances leading up to his death. 

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights is engaged where a person’s death has arguably resulted from the state breaching its duty to protect their life.

The scope of this inquest includes:

1. Daniel’s most recent admission to Highbury Hospital, and specifically:

1. The state of his mental health during the period 9 April 2022 and 22 April 2022
2. the reasons for the admission and the treatment he received at the Hospital
3. the significance or otherwise of his requests to be moved to another hospital
4. the process and decisions leading to his discharge into the community (including assessment of any ongoing risk, information-sharing with third parties) less than 2 weeks after he was admitted;

2. The circumstances in which the deceased came to take the substance, including how and when he acquired it, and his intention at the said time;

3. The EMAS response to the 999 call. In particular, was the original grading of the call appropriate given the reference to the ingestion of the substance.

Daniel’s family are being represented by Clare Evans of Saunders Law and Rachel Barrett of Cloisters.

For all media inquiries, please contact: Clare Evans at [email protected] or 020 7632 4300.

Journalists should refer to the Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting suicide and self-harm and guidance for reporting on inquests.