News - Mum died by suicide on an NHS ward after alleging domestic abuse.

Reporting by Jamie Roberton and Ria Chatterjee A mother-of-two who alleged domestic abuse was able to take her own life on an NHS psychiatric ward after neglectful care, a coroner has ruled. Michelle Sparman – a former police call handler who was later hailed by the Mayor of London for her fitness work during the pandemic – died after being found unconscious at Queen Mary’s Hospital in south London in August 2021. The 48-year-old made “a number of significant disclosures around domestic abuse” to her family and then during her stay in hospital, an inquest heard. Roger Stephens, Ms Sparman’s ex-partner, admitted making her life “very difficult” and “bombarding” her with text messages, but denied their relationship was abusive. Concluding the inquest, Assistant Coroner Bernard Richmond KC said Ms Sparman had taken her own life, citing as a factor her “difficult relationship” with Mr Stephens which included “intemperate and excessive texting which called into question her fitness to be a mother”. While not explicitly stating domestic abuse occurred in his conclusion, Mr Richmond KC said Ms Sparman’s feeling of being abused was “justifiable”. On the actions of Mr Stephens, the assistant coroner said it was a “tragedy that he was unable to accept the break-up of that relationship”, adding: “Mr Stephens will have the rest of his life to contemplate the impact he had on Michelle”. In delivering a ruling of neglect, Mr Richmond KC said it was “hard to think of a more fundamental failure” on the part of the NHS psychiatric ward than the failure to search Ms Sparman’s possessions and find an object that would cause her fatal harm. Channel 4 News understands that the Metropolitan Police’s handling of Ms Sparman’s case has also been condemned as “not acceptable” in an investigation by the police watchdog. Anthea White, Ms Sparman’s sister, told Channel 4 News: “It has taken until now for Michelle’s voice to be heard. The narrative put out there was that she was not a fit mum, with mums whispering in the school playground about my sister – the truth is now out”. “She loved her boys and they now have to grow up without their mother. This was all one person’s determination to break her to get what he wanted.” – Shaun Case Shaun Case, Ms Sparman’s brother, said: “Michelle is gone and she had her whole life ahead of her. She loved her boys and they now have to grow up without their mother. This was all one person’s determination to break her to get what he wanted.” Michelle’s warnings Ms Sparman told her siblings that Mr Stephens would “berate her every day” and tell her “you’re breaking up the family” following her decision to end their 26-year relationship. She had also accused her ex-partner of being “manipulative, abusive, narcissistic”, alleging that he “can get aggressive” without physical violence. ”We knew things weren’t right for a long time,” Shaun Case said. “She talked about constantly walking on eggshells, not knowing what mood he was going to be in, how he was going to react when she spoke to him.” Mr Case and Ms White said their sister would descend into panic at the sight of Mr Stephens’ name appearing on her phone, with Ms Sparman also expressing increasing concern about her ex-partner’s behaviour when he came to collect their two sons. ”The text messages, voice recordings that she was being sent sometimes in the middle of the night – I don’t think Roger really understood the fact that Michelle was sharing these with both family and friends,” Mr Case said. In one message read to court, Mr Stephens told Ms Sparman: “All of us feel sad in our own way because of you.” Mr Case added: “It was quite clear he knew how to manipulate Michelle – he knew how to break her because of her sensitivity.” Death in hospital Ms Sparman, who had a history of depression and anxiety, was voluntarily admitted to Rose Ward at Queen Mary’s Hospital on 24 August 2021. Three days after her admission, the mother-of-two was found unconscious. She was later pronounced dead at Kingston Hospital. On the morning that Ms Sparman fatal injuries were inflicted, the hospital ward was described as “very chaotic” and “particularly challenging”. Observation checks on the most vulnerable inpatients – which included Ms Sparman – far exceeded the expectation time of every 15 minutes with some gaps reported of over 90 minutes. A failure to exhaustively search the items in Ms Sparman’s possessions while on the ward were repeatedly highlighted during the inquest. Mr Richmond KC asked the legal counsel for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust: “Can you suggest a more basic failure on a mental health ward than not conducting checks on what was going in and what was going out? And somebody being able to have a belt on a ward?” “They put mental health in one bracket, domestic abuse in another, suicide in another and no-one thinks about what’s causing it and not enough questions are asked.” – Anthea White A therapist who worked on Rose Ward also told the inquest that Ms Sparman’s disclosures should have also prompted a referral on to a specialist domestic abuse support service. Asked whether the question of domestic abuse was ever taken seriously in any of her sister’s encounters with services, Ms White said: “No – they put mental health in one bracket, domestic abuse in another, suicide in another and no-one thinks about what’s causing it and not enough questions are asked.” Mr Case – who expressed concern about Mr Stephens’ ability to have access to Ms Sparman while she was in hospital – said professionals displayed a “lack of professional curiosity, with lots of tick-boxing going on but no-one ever joining the dots”. Denials of abuse Mr Stephens spoke to a journalist in the days after his former partner’s death to describe her as the “love of my life”. In his tribute to Ms Sparman, who was still described as his partner in the article, he said: “From being the fittest mum ever to not being able to cope at all – it all just got too much, she held it all inside.” When concerns about alleged domestic abuse emerged and he was accused of perpetuating the “classic signs” of emotional abuse, inquest proceedings were repeatedly adjourned to allow Mr Stephens to find legal representation and prepare defence for his character. He denied that the relationship was abusive. Mr Stephens blamed “hormones” for his former partner’s mental health decline, telling the court: “I was collateral damage when her mental health was too bad. I could not cope with it.” In a statement provided to Channel 4 News through his lawyer, Mr Stephens said he “cared deeply” for Ms Sparman claiming that “at times we both did not behave as we should have”. Mr Stephens added: ”The coroner determined after hearing all the evidence that I did not do anything to deliberately harm Michelle.” ‘Call a spade a spade’ Jennifer MacLeod, representing Ms Sparman’s family, urged the assistant coroner to reject “in the strongest terms” the narrative that there were “two sides” at play, insisting the nature of the messages demonstrated Mr Stephens’ alleged behaviour. “Just because a relationship is messy, it does not alter that it may be abusive,” Ms MacLeod told the court. “It is inherent in the nature of domestic abuse that it is not simple and straightforward with contextual factors such as children always at play. ”Call a spade a spade – if the behaviour is abusive and meets that test, it should be spelt out.” She argued there was an expectation that victims of domestic abuse “have to be a saint, never get annoyed”, adding: “Domestic abuse is a huge societal issue, and recording it is appropriate”. Police failings The Metropolitan Police’s response to the concerns of Ms Sparman’s family were criticised in an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Police failed to secure CCTV from hospital grounds before it was overwritten and lost information from Ms Sparman’s mobile phone. “The service provided to the complainant was not acceptable, was not reasonable and proportionate,” an IOPC spokesperson told Channel 4 News. The IOPC said it did not believe a criminal investigation should be re-opened, but that the force should issue an apology for “the poor quality of service”. On his anger at the lack of police response, Mr Case said: ”Real justice would have been if the police had done a proper investigation into what was happening with Michelle – but they did absolutely nothing, they weren’t interested. ”The first thing they said was – ‘well Michelle is dead, what do you expect us to do, we don’t investigate suicides.’ Commander Peter Stevens, from the Metropolitan Police, said the force was “deeply saddened” by Ms Sparman’s death, referencing her work as a member of police staff within the Met. “We accept the service provided was not acceptable and we are sorry this added to the distress of Michelle’s family – we wrote to them to apologise,” a statement concluded. Suicide toll Channel 4 News has reported extensively on the increasing link between women who have reported or alleged domestic abuse and victim suicide, covering the cases of Justene Reece, Alexandra Reid, Jessica Laverack, Kellie Sutton, Kiena Dawes, Ashleigh Inskip and Georgia Barter. The number of domestic abuse victims dying by suicide continues to be higher than those killed directly at the hands of their partners. The Crown Prosecution Service told Channel 4 News in January that prosecutors were “actively looking at a number of cases” with a view to bringing manslaughter convictions against abusive partners whose victims have taken their own lives. In August, a critical report found the NHS was failing to respond to the “insidious” nature of domestic abuse with the health service accused of “not seeing it as their issue to tackle”. “The police had previously failed to investigate Michelle’s death as a possible criminal offence, and we now call on them and the Crown Prosecution Service to review the case.” – Southall Black Sisters In response to Ms Sparman’s case, Cherryl Henry-Leach – chief executive of Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse – said: “They’re the public service that has the most contact with victims yet they are under equipped to respond and missing chances to save lives”. Southall Black Sisters, a domestic abuse charity providing support to Ms Sparman’s family said: “The police had previously failed to investigate Michelle’s death as a possible criminal offence, and we now call on them and the Crown Prosecution Service to review the case.” Ms Sparman’s death prompted an outpouring of grief from her local community in Battersea, where she had been celebrated for her work as a personal trainer during the coronavirus pandemic. Her name is now emboldened on a bench in Battersea Park. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan praised Ms Sparman as the “ambassador of fitness”, while she had also appeared on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch programme. Ms White said: “My sister was a lovely, lively, high-spirited person – anyone she met said how vibrant she was, how big her smile was, how she sang, how she danced”. Concluding the proceedings, Assistant Coroner Bernard Richmond KC said: “Nothing I say is going to take away the pain of losing Michelle – I come away from this inquest knowing that she was a well loved and loving person”. A spokesperson for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust said: “We are deeply sorry for the failings in Michelle’s care before her sad death in 2021. Following Michelle’s death, we conducted a full investigation into her care. “We have implemented a number of measures to improve safety for our patients. This includes improving how we observe our patients to keep them safe and how we conduct searches for items. We have also worked to improve how we record items brought onto wards, and systems to monitor patient risk and safety.” “We have improved information sharing between services, and have provided additional guidance and support to staff on domestic violence and abuse, safeguarding processes and family engagement.” In a statement released through his lawyer, Roger Stephens said: “I met Michelle in our early twenties. We built our lives together and raised two beautiful children in a loving home. I cared deeply for her. Our relationship unfortunately broke down and at times we both did not behave as we should have. “But the Coroner determined after hearing all the evidence that I did not do anything deliberately to harm Michelle. The Coroner did not find that I abused her. There were numerous pressures on Michelle at the time of her death. I loved her and I still do, as do my children, and we wish that she was with us today. ”This process has been very difficult for me and my children, and I look forward to putting it behind us”. Watch more here