Think cannabis is harmless? It drove this grammar school boy insane - then killed him

  • Matthew was a bright young boy who excelled at maths and science
  • But he started smoking cannabis and the 'harmless' drug took its toll
  • He began having hallucinations and became incredibly paranoid
  • Matthew's erratic behaviour turned violent, he started speaking of suicide
  • His parents put him in hospital but once there he tragically hanged himself
  • Matthew's doctors believe his suicide was triggered by smoking cannabis

By Alison Smith Squire

PUBLISHED: 16:08 EST, 16 October 2013 | UPDATED: 17:15 EST, 16 October 2013

Melanie Leahy has many photos of her son, Matthew. But it is the one of him aged 13, fresh-faced and dressed in his grammar school uniform, that is the most painfully poignant of all.

'Matthew had just been awarded top marks in all his academic subjects and was on the cusp of adulthood, with his whole future ahead of him,' she recalls. 'Even as a boy he spoke about his future, of having a large family and how he wanted to start up his own business.'

Matthew
Matthew

Happy and healthy: Matthew was 'gorgeous' and capable, learning to swim at the age of three

Tragically, it is a future Melanie will never see for her only child. For Matthew, 20, previously a Grade A student as well as an expert skiier and qualified lifeguard, hanged himself last November. His  suicide was triggered, doctors believe, by smoking cannabis.

Any suicide is an utter tragedy, but what makes Matthew's case even more shocking is that  the young man took his own life while an in-patient at a mental health hospital.

Despite being on hourly observation because of his unstable state of mind, Matthew had managed to hang himself.

 

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'When I got the phone call to tell me about Matthew's death, it ripped my heart out,' says Melanie, 48, a property manager. 'But most of all I was in shock about how doctors could have allowed it to happen.

'Matthew's father, Michael, and I had agonised over putting him into that hospital. We believed he was in the safest possible hands and that we had done our best for him. We never would have agreed if we'd thought we were sending him to his death.' Melanie questions his treatment at the NHS-run Linden Centre mental health unit in Chelmsford, Essex.

Bright-eyed: Matthew, pictured in his school uniform, aged five - several years before his troubles began

Bright-eyed: Matthew, pictured in his school uniform, aged five - several years before his troubles began

Several other young people have taken their own lives while in the care of the trust in recent years and Matthew's parents are still waiting for answers as to what really  happened to their beloved boy.
It's cannabis, a drug many class as 'harmless', that they blame for his spiral into self-destruction.
Born in December, 1991, Matthew was a 'healthy, happy and bright lad' according to his mother.

'Matthew was absolutely gorgeous and it soon became clear he was very bright,' says Melanie, who lives in Heybridge, Essex. 'He learned  to swim at the age of three and,  by time he was nine, was excelling academically at school.' Sadly, it was around this age that Melanie and Michael, a restaurateur, divorced.

'We'd been growing apart for a  long time,' she explains. 'But where Matthew was concerned, we remained amicable, sharing care of him.'

Although Melanie and Matthew moved ten miles away to a three-bedroomed semi-detached home, Matthew divided his time between his parents' homes.

Painfully poignant: Of her many photos of Matthew, this one reminds Melanie the most of his bright future - now tragically lost

Painfully poignant: Of her many photos of Matthew, this one reminds Melanie the most of his bright future - now tragically lost

'We were incredibly proud when Matthew passed his 11-plus exam and won a place at Westcliff High School For Boys, a selective  grammar school. He excelled at maths and science and was a natural with computers,' Melanie says. However, by the age of 14, teachers reported that Matthew wasn't paying as much attention at school.

Because of the characteristic smell of cannabis on his clothes, and his erratic behaviour, both Melanie and Michael suspected he was smoking the drug.

'I confronted him about it, but he would deny it,' says Melanie.

In June 2005 - after a friend told Melanie she'd seen him in a park smoking cannabis - Melanie took Matthew to see their GP.

'I wanted him to be tested,' she says. Her GP refused, on the grounds that it was not something GPs would test for, but Melanie became increasingly concerned about her son's behaviour.

'We had lots of arguments about him smoking cannabis. Both Michael and I did everything we could to try to stop him, from arguing to reasoning with him but nothing worked.'

By the age of 15, Matthew was having problems sleeping.

'Matthew saw his GP on his own and I now know from his medical notes that he admitted he was smoking cannabis, although because his friends were also smoking it he told his GP he believed it was harmless,' says Melanie.

'This time the doctor advised him about the risks and gave him advice about stopping smoking.'

But Matthew continued and, by the time he was 17, having left school with a clutch of GCSEs and the equivalent of two A-levels, he began his own computer support business. He moved into a shared house that Melanie owned, but at the same time his symptoms worsened significantly.

'Terrifyingly, he began saying he felt as if something was crawling over his body,' recalls Melanie. 'I researched it and pointed out to Matthew it was an effect of  cannabis smoking. [Doctors call this sensation 'formication' and it is one of a number of hallucinations cannabis can trigger.]



'Matthew saw his GP on his own and I now know from his medical notes that he admitted he was smoking cannabis, although because his friends were also smoking it he told his GP he believed it was harmless.'


'It became so severe that, at the end of 2009, he was referred by his GP to the drug and alcohol early intervention team. They came and spoke to him about the effects  of cannabis.'

Melanie now feels they didn't do nearly enough and wishes they'd referred him for counselling and more specialist help, such as  drugs rehabilitation.

Matthew's parents grew even more concerned when, in January 2011, Matthew became convinced he had threadworms living in his stomach, coming out of his nostrils and mouth and living in his ears - a sign of the paranoia caused by the cannabis.

The drugs team explained he was delusional and Matthew's state of mind deteriorated so much he was unable to continue his computer job.

'Eventually in May, Matthew was in so much distress about these imagined parasites that it was  preventing him from sleeping properly,' says Melanie. 'His GP felt he was hallucinating due to his drug problem and referred Matthew to a consultant psychiatrist.'

Yet he continued to smoke cannabis and his paranoia only worsened.

That June, having experienced a terrifying psychotic episode where he believed worms were destroying him, Matthew was admitted to the psychiatric ward at Clacton hospital and then the Linden Centre, where he remained for five months.

Young promise: 15-year-old Matthew, pictured with his mother Melanie, excelled at maths and science and was a natural with computers

Young promise: 15-year-old Matthew, pictured with his mother Melanie, excelled at maths and science and was a natural with computers

Matthew was given drugs to calm his paranoia, but when he was released in November 2011 the family were shocked at his appearance.

'My son had become like a zombie,' says Melanie. 'He'd gone from a bright conversational boy to someone who was hollow-eyed, dribbling and shuffling.

'In hindsight, I don't feel there was any proper care for him at that hospital. His problems were just masked with medication and he was able to continue smoking the drug. I was horrified by the smell of cannabis whenever I visited him.'

His problems were clearly far from resolved when, in April 2012, Matthew - by now back in the shared house - erupted at Melanie when she forbade him to grow cannabis there.

'He said he couldn't deal with the hallucinations any more and wanted to kill himself,' she says. 'He thought the cannabis was  helping to cure them, and wouldn't believe it was the cause.

'He threatened to cut his wrists  or hang himself and I was so upset I called the police who took him  to hospital.' Over the following weeks, Melanie's life became hell.

'One day, Matthew came home with cuts on his face that he'd made with a razor blade. He then threatened to hang himself. I kept telling him I loved him and begged him to get help.

'Another time when I wouldn't give him any money because I knew he would spend it on cannabis, he pinned me against a wall. I wasn't hurt, but it was frightening. I rang the police and, once again, they returned him to hospital.'

Heartbreak: Melanie keeps the memories of her beloved son close to her heart

Heartbreak: Melanie keeps the memories of her beloved son close to her heart

Melanie's frustration with the  system is evident. 'Despite all these episodes, he would simply be taken to hospital by police, be assessed and just sent home again,' she says.

In May 2012, with Melanie at her wits' end, Matthew, now 20, went to live with his father. But in November 2012, during a terrifying psychotic episode at his father's home in Bradwell, Essex, he smashed up his room with a baseball bat.

Michael says: 'Matthew was threatening to kill himself with a knife, so I called the police. He was in such a rage there was no knowing what he'd do.'

At this point he was admitted to the Linden Centre under Section 3 of the Mental Health act.

'Melanie and I were desperate,' explains Michael. 'Matthew needed professional help. He needed proper care and, although it was the hardest thing we've ever done, we believed putting him in hospital would save him.

'We were terrified that, if we didn't section him, he would kill himself. Doctors told us Matthew would be put on suicide watch which reassured us because we felt something positive was being done at last.

'It was exhausting for us watching his every movement 24 hours a day and we knew this way he would not be allowed to kill himself.'


 

'My son had become like a zombie. He'd gone from a bright conversational boy to someone who was hollow-eyed, dribbling and shuffling. In hindsight, I don't feel there was any proper care for him at that hospital.'


However, the couple say they have since been told that Matthew  was put on constant watch only for the first day. They say they've been told this was reduced to hourly  and he was being watched by a student nurse.

'We have no idea why this  was allowed to happen, it was a  decision made by the nurses,' says Melanie. 'But, had I known that he wouldn't be watched 24 hours a day, I would never have agreed to let him go. I bitterly regret it.'

Tragically, five days before his death, Matthew rang his father, distraught, saying he'd been drugged and was desperately unhappy.

'We were scared for him, but were told not to visit for first seven days to give him time to settle,' says Melanie. 'And when we spoke to the ward, the staff denied he was as distressed as he'd made out to us, reassuring us he was in an art class.'

A post-mortem has since also revealed four to five mystery needle marks in Matthew's groin.

'He was petrified of needles,' says Melanie. 'We worry as to what drugs he had been injected with. We've had no explanation as to what these were, but it haunts me that he might have experienced real  terror in those final days.'

Melanie was shocked to discover that Matthew was not the only troubled young person to die in the care of the same trust.

Grieving parents: Melanie and Matthew's father Michael now bitterly regret putting their son in hospital

Grieving parents: Melanie and Matthew's father Michael now bitterly regret putting their son in hospital

In 2001, Nicola Dordoy, 42, was found hanging from her curtain pole in her room at the Linden  Centre, prompting the unit to claim that 'procedures would be changed' as a result.

A year later, Steven Kay, 39, went missing from his room at the Linden Centre and was later found  hanging from a tree. Then, in 2008, Ben Morris, 20, hanged himself with his belt at the same centre.

In May 2012, a Care Quality  Commission report judged over all that 'the Linden Centre was not meeting one or more essential standards. Action is needed.'

Says Melanie: 'I was stunned by the fact that similar problems over lack of care plans, risk assessments and communication errors had been highlighted so many times at the same centre and the same trust.

'Had the trust taken on board all the issues then and improved the care within these mental health units, I believe Matthew would still be alive today.'

She claims that a lack of records of Matthew's final days might mean she never knows exactly what  happened to her son.

North Essex Partnership said: 'What happened to Matthew is  terrible and the family's hurt is totally understandable. Everyone wants answers.

'The coroner can hold an inquest where all issues are raised, and questions asked. We ask Melanie and her family to talk to us about it all, we will answer her questions and her fears, frankly and honestly. That's in everyone's interest.'

Almost a year on, the family are still waiting for an inquest, but they bitterly regret putting him the hospital.

'Losing Matthew has caused pain beyond description,' says Melanie. 'But I'm not going to be happy with weak promises for the future.'

Whether she will get the answers she longs for remains to be seen. But she insists: 'I'm determined that Matthew's death won't be  in vain.'

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Heartbreaking story,there's this impression that cannabis is harmless, far from it.the word ASSASSIN derives from hashish,many people are OK with it,but many aren't ,I hope Mathew as found peace at last RIP

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there is going to be loads of people saying they have used it for years with no problems , they generally speaking will have lowish paid jobs , if jobs at all , but for some people it causes major changes in the brain ,which can lead to death ,your own or some innocent victim .

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Absolutely heartbreaking that such a bright, handsome young man with his entire life before him is simply no longer here. I did not know Matthew but I will certainly reflect deeply on what his mother has said and I'm certain that his death will not be in vain.

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I would like to see statistics comparing illness and mortality due to alcohol and marijuana abuse. I imagine numbers of families caring for, or mourning, their loved alcoholics is far greater. No disrespect to the to the family in this article. The loss of a child is the worst loss of all.

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Stop trying to discriminate Cannabis DM, in general this is a tiny amount of people it happens too compared to what other drug's do as well as drink, i have depression and you know what IT HELP'S i guess it depend's on the person using it i guess as well as everything must be done it moderation and not smoking in like a normal fag, beside's the benefits it give HEAVILY outweigh it bad counterparts for example, medical, agriculture, muscle relaxer , also it's the only thing to clean's up nuclear-radiation apart from sunflowers witch don't do it half as well (they used it at Chernobyl look it up) it help's with AH-HD, Alzheimerżs, Touretteżs and OCD other thing's to go with it other than that my condolences to the family R.I.P,

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No it didnt

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sounds like it triggerd something off that was alfeady there

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Anti-cannabis propaganda! Tragic as it is the boy would not have been smoking cannabis whilst in the hospital, they would have used far more powerful phama drugs instead, he's more likely to have suffered side effects from the phama drugs they gave him; if anything is to blame it our draconian health system that doesn't know how to treat mental health issues. It's absolutely crazy to blame cannabis for this boys death.

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Depends on the person.

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I had an apprentice that was really bright , years of cannabis addled his brain .

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