The mum of a ‘beautiful and intelligent’ man who took his own life believes the government should look at its mental health laws.

An inquest was held last week into the death of much-loved Jamie Barrow who went missing on September 18, 2023 which prompted a huge search. Sadly, his body was found in Ramsey Bay by a fishing vessel on September 30 that year.

Jamie, 39, had battled mental health issues include schizophrenia and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), for most of his adult life, but he was hoping to change his medication for something he was happier with.

He suffered from suicidal thoughts and self-harm and spent time at mental health impatient unit Manannan Court on several occasions.

In mid-August 2023, Jamie’s mental health took a turn for the worse and he was admitted to Manannan Court for around three weeks. But less than two weeks after discharge he took his own life.

The inquest heard how many of Jamie’s problems stemmed from non-compliance in taking his medication.

Advocate Darren Taubitz, representing the family, asked psychiatrist Dr Hammad Khan – who had been involved in Jamie’s care for almost 10 years - about Community Treatment Orders (CTO).

These allow mental health care teams to supervise the taking of medication in the community but are only available in the UK and not in the island.

Dr Khan, who had assessed Jamie on September 12, 2023, agreed they should be introduced here and that the main reason he would relapse was due to not taking his anti-psychotic medication.

Afterwards, Jamie’s mum Valerie Nelson said: ‘Jamie’s death has unfortunately become yet another statistic on such a small Island. It is my personal opinion that it would be prudent for the Manx government to revisit Manx mental health laws and procedures to try and bring them more in line with the UK.’

The inquest heard how Jamie was discharged from Manannan Court on September 6, 2023 but he remained highly anxious and felt he had been discharged too early. He became erratic and he displayed risky behaviour.

Over the next few days he ended up at A&E twice and, on September 10, he claimed he had taken an overdose and was seen by Psychiatrist Dr Kamran Abid – who has also assessed him two days earlier - who said Jamie did not need to be readmitted.

During the assessment, Dr Abid told Jamie: ‘Not all suicides are preventable.’

That comment upset Jamie who accused Dr Abid of not caring whether he lived or died and that he didn’t want to help him. Valerie made an audio recording of the assessment which was played at the inquest.

Dr Abid said he was aware Jamie was sometimes non-compliant with his medication which is ‘common among mental health patients’.

When asked why he decided not to readmit Jamie to Manannan House on September 10 he said many factors had to be taken into account and explained there were hundreds of mental health patients but only 14 beds at Manannan Court.

He was asked about the comments he made in relation to ‘not all suicides being preventable’.

Dr Abid said: ‘The point I was making is that it is not a reason to keep someone in the unit because they are having suicidal thoughts.

‘The way to help them manage the risk is to find tools to help them deal with their emotions.

‘They have to understand admission to inpatient units is not helpful long-term. They can lose the ability to create coping mechanisms to deal with their emotions.

‘They will start to feel the only way they can feel safe is to be admitted. They have to come to terms with the reality that the only person who can keep them safe are themselves.

‘It was not my intention to give Jamie the impression we had lost hope or given up.’

Jamie’s mum Valerie also gave evidence with a statement read out in which she described the final days with her son.

On spending the day with Jamie on September 16, Valerie said: ‘I told Jamie to turn the negatives into positives. I said he needs to keep his head high and think of the things he enjoyed. I felt I had done enough to save him.’

After being unable to get hold of Jamie on September 18, Valerie went to his flat. There was no one home but there was a single white rose on the bed. The flat had also been cleaned. She reported him missing to the police.

Jamie’s mental health spiralled downhill around the time of the Covid pandemic which coincided with the breakdown of a relationship.

Jamie was taking the anti-psychotic drug paliperidone which was done through a depot injection. This meant he would receive one injection a month which would slowly release the medication and would result in better compliance.

However, Jamie sometimes did not take them as he felt it ‘dulled his mind’ and ‘stifled his creativity’.

Following Jamie’s death, Manx Care produced a serious investigation report which highlighted a number of shortcomings in documentation and recording Jamie’s care. These issues have since been addressed.

Diane Watts was Jamie’s community mental health worker and had known him for a long time.

She told the inquest she had noticed a change in Jamie’s behaviour in the last week or two before he disappeared. She had asked Dr Khan to review Jamie’s case as a ‘matter of urgency’.

During the meeting with Dr Khan, Jamie agreed to further community treatment and was given a short course of medication to treat his anxiety.

Once Jamie had been reported missing, police attended his flat and found a note written by Jamie in which he clearly expressed intent to take his own life.

He was spotted on CCTV leaving his home just before 11pm on September 17 with a backpack and he never returned. His phone was found placed on a letterbox in the communal area.

A crew member on a fishing vessel which was heading from Ramsey to Peel described how she and the skipper spotted a body floating off the coast of Cranstal on September 30.

They alerted the coastguard who sent out a lifeboat to pick up the body which was later identified as Jamie.

A postmortem was carried out and pathologist Dr Ervine Long concluded the probable cause of death was ‘drowning’.

After delivering a verdict of ‘suicide’, Coroner James Brooks said he had considered whether neglect in Jamie’s care was the cause of his death but ruled that out.

But he did suggest CTOs could be introduced in the island.

He said: ‘I am not satisfied I can say a CTO would have prevented Jamie’s death or other similar deaths.

‘But I express the hope consideration is given for such orders to be introduced here which could prevent future deaths.’

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