Charlie Millers: Jury considers conclusion over death of transgender boy who was treated on mental health ward

24 April 2024, 17:27 | Updated: 24 April 2024, 20:20

The jury in the inquest into the death of a transgender boy, who died from injuries sustained while a mental health patient at Prestwich Hospital, has retired to consider its conclusion.

Seventeen-year-old Charlie Millers from Stretford, Greater Manchester, died five days after being found unresponsive in his room at the Junction 17 mental health ward, as a result of self-inflicted injuries on 2 December 2020.

HM senior coroner Joanne Kearsley told the jury it was their duty to find facts and judge the evidence.

Charlie died from a hypoxic brain injury after being found completely unconscious with injuries caused by a ligature.

At the time, he was under a strict observation regime where he was supposed to be checked every five minutes.

Charlie's mother Sam Millers previously told the inquest her son had struggled with his mental health since he was a young child and this had become worse in his teenage years.

He had also been severely bullied at school when he transitioned as a 12-year-old.

By 2020 he was in a cycle of serious self-harming behaviour which had seen him in and out of the mental health unit.

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Charlie's family described him as "an amazing human" who made time for others regardless of how much he was struggling.

He was a talented artist who loved football, Morris dancing and animals.

The inquest has examined the circumstances of Charlie's death and the care provided by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Trafford Borough Council and five other interested persons.

Charlie was one of three young people to die at the hospital in less than a year.

Eighteen-year-old Rowan Thompson died in October 2020 and 21-year-old Ania Sohail died in June 2021.

(c) Sky News 2024: Charlie Millers: Jury considers conclusion over death of transgender boy who was treated on mental health ward