A hospital trust has been fined more than £500,000 and a ward manager given a six-month suspended sentenced over the death of a 22-year-old woman on a mental health unit.
Alice Figueiredo was being treated at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford when she took her own life using bin bags from a shared toilet, having previously made many similar attempts.
The North-East London Foundation NHS Trust (NELFT), which runs the hospital, and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa were convicted in June when an Old Bailey jury found they did not do enough to prevent Alice’s death.
NELFT was fined £565,000 and Aninakwa must also complete 300 hours of unpaid community service.
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The hospital had previously acknowledged the risk to patients of keeping bin bags on the ward and they were subsequently taken out of patient bedrooms.
However, despite warnings from Alice’s family, they were not removed from the communal toilet, which was left unlocked.
The Old Bailey judge His Honour, Judge Richard Marks KC, described Ms Figueiredo’s death as a “terrible tragedy”, and said there had been serious failings in the care she received.





