Wren left to die of diabetes aboard frigate as crew fails to help her

Published on Monday 25 February 2008 21:21

A WREN officer from Scotland was left dying in a diabetic coma in her cabin on a Royal Navy warship because shipmates thought she was drunk, an inquest heard yesterday.

Lieutenant Emma Douglas, 29, from Huntly in Aberdeenshire, was spotted "gurgling" on the floor and naked from the waist down by a rating who shut the door of her cabin and left her there.

Colleagues assumed she was drunk. But later post-mortem tests showed there had been no alcohol in her body, an inquest in Plymouth was told.

The young Wren – described by her mother in court as "our golden girl" – had died from diabetic keto-acidosis, a form of the disease which is invariably fatal if left untreated.

The opening day of the inquest was told that the police were called in after Lt Douglas was found dead aboard the Type 22 frigate HMS Cornwall at Devonport Naval Base on 3 October, 2004.

Lt Douglas had gone to a Navy doctor four days before her death, complaining of constant vomiting and massive weight loss, but had been diagnosed with oral thrush.

She was given antibiotics and advised to eat Actimel yoghurt to calm her stomach.

Her widowed mother Cynthia told the inquest that her daughter had phoned her, complaining of an upset stomach, more than a week before she died. Her last phone call was on the day after she had been seen by the Navy doctor.

Her daughter told her: "Mum, in an ideal world I would be coming home for some TLC." Mrs Douglas continued: "She had a birthmark on her leg which was normally white and she said it had gone red and said she had lost a stone and had hips for the first time since she was 14 and none of her clothes rubbed against her body anymore."

Mrs Douglas added: "She was our golden girl and the loss to myself and her brother and sister is more devastating than words can ever say."

Detective Chief Inspector Alistair Cuthbert, who led the police investigation, said: "On Saturday, 2 October, the duty watch found Lt Douglas lying on the floor of her cabin. She was partially clothed and naked from the waist down, with laboured breathing.

"The cabin door was open and the curtain inside not pulled across. The member of the duty watch took no action other than to close the door. He told the officer of the day what he had found and of her state of dress and 24 hours later the decision was taken to disturb her.

"A phone call had been received from a friend whom she was due to visit and at this time she was found dead."

The inquest was told that Lt Douglas would have survived had she been admitted to hospital on 29 September, 2004 – the day she went to HMS Drake, the shore-based medical facility.

Surgeon Commander Marcus Evershed said when he saw Lt Douglas she had complained of vomiting after meals, lethargy and a sore mouth, and was drinking only small amounts of fluid, but did not complain of bowel or urine symptoms.

Lt Douglas was "not obviously dehydrated", and he gave her anti-fungal medication for oral thrush, advising her to drink fluids, and offered her sick-bay rest, which she declined.

He said diabetes was in the back of his mind, but because of her answers about urine and drinking, it was "very much suppressed" in his mind after that.

The inquest continues.

TRAGEDY OF NAVAL FAMILY

Lt Douglas's father, Christopher, was lost at sea when Emma was only 13. The ship on which he was serving as a Merchant Navy officer sank in the Bay of Biscay.

During her school years she was educated as a boarder at the former Oxenfoord Castle School near Edinburgh, but became a pupil at the Gordon Schools in Huntly in her fifth year, when the family moved to live at the Bridge of Marnoch in Aberdeenshire.

She attended a college course in mechanical engineering in Aberdeen before completing a degree at Newcastle University.

She joined the Royal Navy after graduating in 2000, and once she had gained her commission she served on HMS Ark Royal as an assistant marine engineer.