Mum in disbelief sectioned son fled Essex unit, inquest hears

A mother whose son fled a mental health unit before being found dead near a railway station was left "in disbelief" he got out, an inquest heard.

Jayden Booroff had been sectioned twice when he left the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, Essex, on 23 October 2020.

He was "failed" by the site, his mother Michelle Booroff told Essex Coroner's Court as proceedings opened.

She described the 23-year-old as a talented musician.

But jurors heard her explain how he dropped out of Mountview College, a south London drama school, in about 2017 and "stopped taking care of himself".

She told area coroner Sonia Hayes how a family member had schizophrenia and that she had warned her "bright" and "very creative" boy against smoking cannabis.

"He could talk for hours about the universe, not making much sense," she said.

The inquest heard he was detained at The Lakes unit in Colchester in September 2020, and then again at the Linden Centre, run by the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, the following month.

"I knew when I got the first phone call from the Linden Centre at 20:05 BST that Jayden's life was at risk," Ms Booroff told proceedings.

"[I] was in disbelief as to how he could have got out."

She described searching around the city for her son the night he was reported missing before approaching a member of staff at Chelmsford railway station who told her: "Not another one from the Linden Centre."

Mr Booroff was found dead near the station at about 21:45 BST that evening.

"I feel the Linden Centre failed him in his care," his mother told the court.

The inquest is due to last two weeks.

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