Investigation and inquest
On 7th October 2022 I commenced an investigation into the death of Laura Gawthorpe 07/07/1987. The investigation concluded at the end of the Inquest on 30/04/2024. The conclusion of the Inquest was that Mrs Gawthorpe’s death was a suicide.
Circumstances of the death
Laura Gawthorpe was a voluntary patient at the Becklin Centre, Alma Street, Leeds. On 13th September 2022, she left the Becklin Centre on escorted leave and made her way ████████, where CCTV tracked her making her way to levels ████████ of the car park, and thence back down ████████, from where she deliberately fell to the ground below, dying instantly from unsurvivable injuries.
Coroner’s concerns
(1) The evidence of West Yorkshire Police was that, by the erection of extensive fencing and barriers, measures have been put in place on levels ████████ at the car park to make it harder for people to fall from those levels, whether deliberately or accidentally.
(2) The erection of similar measures on level ████████ has been only partial. The point from where Mrs Gawthorpe fell was identified by correlating her location on the ground with the location on level ████████ where she had left her phone before her fall. At that location, the parapet wall could still easily be climbed over.