A Luminous Spirit Extinguished: The Preventable Death of Alice Figueiredo and a NHS Trust’s Fatal Failure
As a hospital trust is fined over £500,000, a family’s quest for accountability highlights a devastating series of missed chances and ignored warnings that led to their daughter’s tragic death.
“A Vibrant Young Woman” Failed by the System Meant to Save Her
Alice Figueiredo was the kind of young woman who left an impression. Described by an Old Bailey judge as a “beautiful vibrant young woman” who was “hugely talented,” the 22-year-old former head girl was battling serious mental health challenges. Admitted to the Hepworth Ward at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, her family placed their trust in the North-East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) to provide her with safe care. However, instead of a sanctuary, the ward became a place of peril. Alice’s mother, Jane Figueiredo, recounted a harrowing experience where her daughter was treated with “unkindness, harshness, indifference, ignorance, even at times cruelty.” The family’s well-founded fears and repeated warnings about clear dangers on the ward were met with what they described as “dismissive contempt,” creating a chasm between concerned loved ones and the professionals tasked with healing.
A Known, Lethal Risk Left Unaddressed in an Unlocked Cupboard
The central, heartbreaking failure in Alice’s care was shockingly simple and entirely preventable: plastic bin bags. The trust itself had acknowledged the risk these items posed to vulnerable patients and had taken the step of removing them from patient bedrooms. Yet, in a catastrophic oversight, they were left readily available in an unlocked, communal toilet—a space Alice and other patients could access freely. The court heard that Alice had used plastic from these very toilets to self-harm on at least ten previous occasions. Despite this glaring red flag and her family’s direct pleas, no action was taken to secure this known hazard. Judge Richard Marks KC condemned the “complete failure to adequately assess and manage the risk,” a failure that would have fatal consequences.
A Legacy of Grief and a Hollow Victory for a Grieving Family
The tragic, inevitable outcome came when Alice Figueiredo took her own life using bin bags from that shared toilet. A decade-long legal battle followed, culminating in the trust being fined £565,000 and the ward manager, Benjamin Aninakwa, receiving a suspended sentence. For Alice’s family, the legal recognition of failure is a hollow victory. Her mother’s victim impact statement painted a picture of immeasurable loss, describing Alice as a “uniquely beautiful, brave, affectionate generous, kind, colourful, creative and luminous spirit.” While the trust’s chief executive has offered a deep apology and spoken of improvements, the case stands as a damning indictment of systemic failure. It reveals a story not of a single mistake, but of a cascade of ignored warnings, poor record-keeping, and a lack of insight that ultimately extinguished a brilliant young life, leaving a family to forever grapple with a question that should never have to be asked: “What if they had just listened?”