The mother of a 16-year-old girl who was found dead in a derelict hotel has opened up on her heartache as she calls for a change in the law on when teenagers can leave home.
The body of Kianna Patton was discovered at the disused Commodore Hotel building in Pembroke Dock, South Wales October 24, 2019, after she had been reported missing the day before.
An inquest into her death concluded on Thursday. Coroner Gareth Lewis ruled she did not intentionally take her own life as he recorded a narrative conclusion.
Following the hearing, Kianna’s mother Joanne Patton paid a moving tribute to her daughter.
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“Kianna was my world, she was a good child” she told WalesOnline. “I always wanted a girl, and when I knew I was pregnant with Kianna, I was overjoyed, she was so wanted.”
“Kianna was born in Northern Ireland as her dad was serving in the military at the time” she continued. “We moved to Wales to be near my sister-in-law.
“We were a really close-knit family and she had a very good upbringing. She was very close with her two brothers and her sister, and there was never an argument ever.
“She was a very bright, happy, polite girl. She loved playing the keyboard. She had an ear for music and could pick it up by ear. She was self-taught, didn’t learn it at school or anything, she was very talented. She loved Beyonce and wanted to go and see her. We saw Pink and Ed Sheeran together.
“We used to holiday in Turkey and she used to love seeing the stray cats. She loved animals. We’ve got two Jack Russells, one of them, Marley, always gravitated to Kianna, he’s nearly 13 now.”
Kianna’s inquest heard how she had experienced low spells dating back to 2017, for which she was referred to therapy, and a year later, began taking cannabis and missing classes, causing her grades to decline, after ‘being influenced by friends.’
In May 2018, she was found to have overdosed in her bedroom, and a referral was made to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), which provides services to help young people with mental health problems.
She was given talking therapy, and in July, was prescribed anti-depressants, with a working diagnosis that she had moderate depressive disorder.
The inquest had heard how Kianna’s mum had ‘serious concerns’ over her use of cannabis, and the matter came to a head when, days after they had enjoyed a day out watching Pink in concert together to mark her 16th birthday, she found her daughter ‘high on cannabis’, and asked her to leave the house.
She believed her daughter would stay at her aunt’s house, but instead she went to live with a friend. The inquest was told that she was well looked after there, but that the use of cannabis was more tolerated in their household, within the garden only, making Joanne even more concerned.
It was heard that Joanne contacted the police on June 28 with her concerns, who advised her to contact social services, who then referred her back to the police.
On September 2, Kianna had visited her GP, and reported hearing voices for nine months, and suffering with delusions, sharing how she had thought of ending her own life.
She explained how she lived with her best friend’s family and did not intend on returning home. Her GP sent an urgent referral to CAMHS relaying that she had complained of psychotic-type symptoms.
Joanne said: “Nobody told me Kianna was experiencing voices – not the professionals, not her friends. It was heart-breaking. I was completely in the dark, and I didn’t learn about it until the inquest.”
Of the inquest, she said: “It’s been hard, it’s been a fight, but I wasn’t prepared to sit back and let the ruling of her inquest be suicide. I do not believe she intended to take her own life. When she took the first overdose, she said she would not do it again and knew that it had upset a lot of people. She didn’t want to upset her family.
“I know that mental health is an illness, it’s not her fault at all. My children have kept me going. They are my reason. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here. And even though Kianna is not here, she is still my reason.”
Coroner for Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, Gareth Lewis, said Kianna ‘lacked necessary intent for a conclusion of suicide.’
In his conclusion, said that he found CAMHS ‘failure to put in place a suitable safety plan probably contributed to Kianna’s death in a more than minimal way.’
He added: “The health board made an admission in Kianna’s analysis that her assessment was not updated, and my finding is that CAMHS should have passed on to the childcare assessment team of the issues relating to Kianna’s risk, which would have caused it to perform an assessment, which may have augmented a safety plan.
“Had anti-psychotic medication been prescribed, this would have had the effect of reducing symptoms of psychosis, and may possibly have prevented the death.”
In a statement released following the inquest, medical director at Hywel Dda University Health Board, Mark Henwood, said: “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family who continue to deal with their loss. We acknowledge the coroner’s conclusion and have already made some changes.
“During the past few years, we have introduced a number of improvements including a 24/7 Children and Adults’ Mental Health crisis service and the establishment of a dedicated 24/7 Crisis Hwb to offer support to children and young people experiencing mental health crisis.
“We are continuing to drive improvements in multi-agency management of risk assessment and safeguarding. If anyone is in urgent need of mental health support, please access our services by calling 111 and selecting option two.”
Joanne expressed her gratitude to the coroner Mr Lewis who she felt ‘did a thorough job’, and Watkins and Gunn, for representing her family during the inquest.
She explained how she now plans to campaign to bring about significant change in the coming years in the form of what she has called ‘Kianna’s Law’.
In the UK, a young person can leave home at the age of 16, but Kianna’s mum now wants to see that extended to 18.
She said: “Next year, I plan to start Kianna’s Law, I want to bring about change, because when Kianna left the property and decided she wanted to live with friends, I was told she was 16 years old and could legally leave home, even though she was a mentally ill minor.
“I want to raise the age of leaving home from 16 to 18. There’s many countries which have it in place where you need parental consent to leave home. I don’t think at the age of 16 that you’re old enough to make sensible life choices. Kianna’s case proves that.”
Joanne reflected on her lasting memories of her daughter, and explained the things she and her family do to keep her memory alive.
“In her memory, we light candles, she has a rose bush with a personalised lantern in her memory in the front garden, she has her own Christmas tree every year with her own baubles that various friends and family have given us.
“Mental health is such a horrible thing, and not talked about, and suicides are on the increase, and it’s such a sad world to be in.
“I like to on her special birthdays (on June 22), like Kianna’s 18th and her 21st, to put a smile on a random stranger’s face. I paid for someone’s McDonald’s behind me in the drive-thru, I took an envelope of money to Tesco and hid it on the shelf, because, I want to put a smile on someone else’s face who might be having a crap day, in Kianna’s memory.
“I put that smile on someone else’s face because I can’t do it for her.
“She will be remembered as her lovely, beautiful, bubbly self, and will be forever missed, but forever loved.”
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