{"id":585001,"date":"2025-11-21T16:03:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585001\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T16:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:03:44","slug":"frustrated-and-irritable-mia-lucas-tied-noose-around-her-neck-but-staff-werent-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585001\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Frustrated and irritable&#8217; Mia Lucas tied noose around her neck &#8211; but staff weren&#8217;t told"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mia, from Arnold, was just 12 years old when she died after a stay at a children&#8217;s mental health centre in Sheffield<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1_Mia-Lucas-4.jpg\" alt=\"Mia Lucas\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Mia Lucas(Image: Chloe Hayes)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Staff at a specialist children\u2019s mental health centre in Sheffield were not told a girl had tied a ligature around her neck <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghampost.com\/news\/local-news\/nottinghamshire-girl-12-died-sheffield-10650248\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">hours before she took her own life<\/a>, an<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghampost.com\/all-about\/courts\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> inquest <\/a>heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">It was one of four known times <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghampost.com\/news\/local-news\/mia-12-fun-bubbly-girl-10485056\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Mia Lucas<\/a>, from Arnold, tied a ligature around her neck while she was treated at Emerald Lodge in Becton Centre, Sheffield, <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.examinerlive.co.uk\/news\/local-news\/upset-confused-mia-showed-staff-32905602\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Yorkshire Live reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghampost.com\/news\/local-news\/touching-tribute-fun-bubbly-arnold-10602887\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">The 12-year-old girl<\/a>, who loved horse-riding and singing, was found unresponsive in her room at the centre on January 29, 2023, before being pronounced dead the following day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Fran Porter-Young, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Emerald Lodge, told Sheffield Coroner\u2019s Court on Wednesday, November 19, that she was not informed by overnight staff in a morning handover that Mia had tied a ligature around her neck in the early hours of January 29.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Porter-Young said that had the team known about it, \u201ca conversation would have been had\u201d about how they handled the situation, but she cannot \u201cgive you an accurate answer about what we might have done differently\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">She said Mia repeatedly hit a window that morning and was \u201cquite frustrated and irritable\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">She said Mia had a \u201clow tolerance for getting frustrated\u201d, but that she settled throughout the day, and staff were not as worried about her in the evening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Mia was transferred to Emerald Lodge on January 9 from Queen\u2019s Medical Centre (<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nottinghampost.com\/all-about\/queens-medical-centre\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">QMC<\/a>) in Nottingham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">During her three weeks there, she tied ligatures around her neck on three other occasions, two in the first week she was there and again on January 26 after she was banned from using an iPad. She also pulled a clump of hair out of her head.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Porter-Young said Mia had \u201ctied something quite loosely and brought that to staff whilst she was very upset and confused\u201d and that she \u201cwanted help from staff\u201d in the first two incidents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">She said: \u201cMia was trying to communicate her distress. It was really difficult for her to communicate how much she was struggling in words because her speech was disorganised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Rachel Horn, clinical psychologist at the centre, said the incidents were \u201cin the moment\u201d as it would have been very difficult for Mia to have planned something and hold onto that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Horn said: \u201cThey were very in the moment and fleeting. She would be very cross with someone in one moment, and then wanted to talk to them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">&#8220;It was that sudden for Mia, and I don\u2019t think she would be able to hold onto information and carry through an intention over a period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Horn said Mia was very changeable. Mia once had a conversation with Dr Horn in her office, but after she got angry and stormed out of the room, she spat at the window in the door. Around 30 seconds later, she returned and said she was hungry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">When transferred to Emerald Lodge, Mia was initially given one-to-one observations, meaning staff would follow her and regularly check in on her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">She was also observed once an hour overnight. But these observations disrupted Mia, who complained of being followed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">She became aggressive towards the staff and swore at them. She was also struggling to sleep and staff were primarily focusing on settling her in a new environment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Dr Horn told Senior Coroner Tanyka Rawden it was her suggestion to try and reduce the level of observation over a weekend when fewer children were at the centre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">One-to-one observations were subsequently changed to a 15-minute routine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Earlier in the inquest, a jury of 11 members heard how Mia had been rushed to QMC on December 31 after her grandmother became concerned for her well-being.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">Mia said she had been hearing voices, suffering from hallucinations, and had attacked her mum and other family members, including in one instance when she tried to grab a knife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">A viral infection intensified her \u201cdisorganised and unusual\u201d behaviour two weeks before she was rushed to hospital, and doctors in Nottingham assessed whether there was a physical driver of Mia\u2019s mental health issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">They referred her to the Becton Centre, suggesting all physical tests had returned normal results.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"nottinghampost\">The inquest continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mia, from Arnold, was just 12 years old when she died after a stay at a children&#8217;s mental&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[98597,748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-585001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-arnold","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-sheffield","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115588537833931209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}