Vulnerable patient was found dead in grounds of private mental health clinic, inquest hears

The body of a vulnerable patient was found in the grounds of a private mental health clinic in Oakley Green around an hour after she went missing, an inquest has heard.

Cressida Comyn, 39, died at the Cardinal Clinic in Oakley Green Road, where she was being treated for severe anxiety and paranoia, at night on August 6, 2024.

An inquest into her death at Berkshire Coroner's Court, heard how she was found after she had performed a fatal act of self-harm ‘less than 50m’ away from the clinic she had fled from.

A statement from Cressida’s partner Jamie Collins, read out at the inquest opening on Monday (September 15), said ‘we trusted Cardinal Clinic to look after her’ and she had been ‘terribly let down’.

The Cardinal Clinic closed earlier this year after the company running it, Bishops Lodge Limited, collapsed into administration. A new operator has since taken over the clinic.

The inquest is taking place at Berkshire Coroner's Court in Reading Town Hall (pictured).

Cressida, an asset manager who lived in Battersea, was admitted voluntarily to the Cardinal Clinic on August 2, 2024.

She had been suffering from job-related anxiety and was signed off ill from work. In the days before attending the clinic in Oakley Green Road, she had started to hear voices and was self-harming.

Cressida was supposed to be under one-to-one supervision at the clinic, but she ran away from her carer and fled the facility at around 9.30pm on August 6, the inquest heard.

She was known to police as a risk, having gone missing earlier that day, and her case was assigned a top priority when the 999 call came in at 9.50pm.

Officers arrived at the clinic soon after and were told by staff that Cressida had fled into a nearby field. They were also told Cressida was ‘actively suicidal’, the inquest heard.  

But a police unit en route to the clinic advised the officers not to pursue her themselves, as doing so could confuse the scents for the police sniffer dog.

Questions were raised about the police response to Cressida’s disappearance by barrister William Lacey at the inquest, acting on behalf of the Comyn family.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) constable Dan Terry, one of the first officers on scene, told the inquest: “We found Cressida within six to seven minutes with the help of a dog.

“Had we searched, just police officers; yes, we do it [this job] day in, day out, and there are skills we pick up.

“But we could have been out there for hours on our feet, not knowing where to go.

“Yes, we had to wait 15 minutes for a dog, but that shortened our time to find her.”

Police Dog (PD) Venn tracked Cressida’s trail through the field and back into the grounds of the clinic, where her body was found.

PC Terry said: “From the track [through the field] it felt quite far away, because of how far we were running.

“But upon reflection, once I had time to gather everything, it was round the corner, by the allotments.

“I would say it was less than 50 metres from the building itself.”

Thames Valley Air Ambulance and South Central Ambulance Service paramedics were on scene and administered CPR to Cressida at 22.55pm.

Police armed officers, who carry specialist life-saving equipment, were also on scene.

But the attempts were unsuccessful, and Cressida was pronounced dead at 11.11pm.

The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation in a toxicology report. She had been found hanged and there was no evidence of third-party involvement.

At the inquest, Coroner Alison McCormick read out a statement from Cressida’s partner Mr Collins, which discussed her treatment at Cardinal Clinic.

The statement said, ‘I feel that Cressida was terribly let down’ and ‘we trusted Cardinal Clinic to look after her’.

He said Cressida ‘should have been under constant supervision’ and criticised problems with the ‘professional communication with her support network [family and friends]’ at the clinic.

Members of Cressida’s family, including her mother and father, Jane and Tim Comyn, attended the first day of the inquest.

Mrs Comyn read out a tribute to her daughter, a keen skier with a younger sister and older brother.

“The tragedy of her death,” Mrs Comyn said, “is that her illness was treatable.”

The inquest continues.

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