Drug-death inquiry told of mother's plea

Published on Monday 9 June 2008 22:51

THE mother of a teenager who died after being given the heroin substitute methadone told a court yesterday how she had pleaded for her daughter to be placed in secure care.

Danielle Scott, 17, of Glasgow, was in the care of Howdenhall Young Persons' Unit in Edinburgh at the time of her death in February 2005 because she was suffering from an eating disorder. She had absconded from the unit when she took the drug.

A fatal accident inquiry into her death started yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Lorraine Scott said she had expressed grave concerns to Howdenhall staff and her social worker about her daughter's safety.

Miss Scott died after spending a night at Peter Meaney's flat in Sighthill, Edinburgh. Meaney, 27, was jailed for culpable homicide after admitting feeding the girl alcohol and methadone.

Mrs Scott, 47, told the court her daughter developed problems with food at the age of 12, when she was bullied at school.

Miss Scott was diagnosed with bulimia nervosa and initially treated as an outpatient at an adolescent unit. She was then a patient at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow, where she remained for 15 months before being discharged in 2002.

After a spell in Glasgow's Priory clinic, Miss Scott was admitted to Howdenhall in April 2004. She initially stayed in a secure unit, but moved to a semi-secure facility.

Mrs Scott said she had been under the impression initially that Howdenhall would be a temporary measure until hospital treatment could be obtained for her daughter. "I felt they were not keeping her safe," Mrs Scott said. "She was not getting any treatment."

The court heard that a social worker's notes in December 2003 said Miss Scott was "extremely vulnerable".