Amy Winehouse's ex-mother-in-law blasts mental health provisions after son overdosed

Freddy Civil, 27, the younger brother of the singer's ex-partner Blake Fielder-Civil, died on April 26 last year, with a coroner ruling this was due to “misadventure”.

He had absconded from Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield before checking into a £40-a-night B&B in Leeds and taking a fatal dose of drugs, an inquest heard.

Speaking for the first time since his death, Freddy's heartbroken mum Georgette Civil, 56, claims she “predicted” his death months earlier. She also claims her youngest son, who "idolised" his brother Blake, had been “robbed of his dignity” during his four-year stint as an inpatient.

And Freddy's diary entries, shared by his mum, even revealed staff's cruel taunts - including allegedly calling him "Jimmy Savile" - as part of their "bullying" and "patronizing behaviour."

Georgette said: “I fought throughout to keep him alive because I predicted in November and December and January he was going to die under their care. My son was robbed of his dignity and his respect, and the grossly poor handling of the complaints procedure was just shocking.

“He was no better treated - and I hate to say it - than like a caged dog. But for me, the real tragedy here is Freddy had good, good cause to fear he would never be free. We both did."

Georgette said Freddy was “frightened” and “isolated” at the secure unit and slammed hospital workers for “bullying” the young man, who feared he would never be “free”. She also feared patient deaths may rise at the hospital after the Quality Care Commission ruled it's Trust's metal health provision required improvement in 2019.

She added: “All our lives are forever changed. Will there be any further deaths there? Yes, there will be. I don’t understand now why our mental health system is failing."

At Freddy’s inquest, the court heard he had been made subject to a hospital order by a judge after being sentenced to HMP Leeds for a crime that wasn’t specified. He had been detained under the Mental Health Act at Newton Lodge, a medium security unit in the grounds of Fieldhead Hospital since the autumn of 2018.

Georgette, a former salon owner, from Rippingdale, Lincolnshire, used to speak to her son every day on the phone and hoped one day to open a barbershop with him. And she said it was “heartbreaking” to read his files after his death, which revealed the true extent of his "pain and isolation" while he was in the mental health unit.

The mum-of-three said: “There was never a day when I didn’t ring my son or he didn’t ring me. And with every upset, I would always say to Freddy, 'Do you want me to raise it with staff.' And I did, I supported Freddy. He’s my son, I love him.

"You read his files, and you can feel his pain and isolation and frustration, and you can see the inevitable was just about to happen, and it’s just devastating that it happened. For years he was bullied, and he was frightened, and he was lonely, and he was isolated.

"All we both saw was years and years of him trapped in this awful situation we were both in. And after he died, I felt really upset."

Georgette added that Freddy had looked up to Blake, saying: "All the boys got on really well. He was their big brother. As younger brothers, they idolised Blake."

Freddy's personal diaries, which were released to Georgette following his death, show claims of staff nicknaming him after paedophile Jimmy Savile.

In one passage he wrote: “Approached the office to ask staff a question at which point staff member…looked through the window, looked directly at me and said in front of my friend… ‘Alright Jimmy Savile.’ I said Hello and walked away. This is the second time he has called me Jimmy Savile, previous time was at [sic] the corridor."

In another, he added: “When I try [to] explain what I see in this hospital i.e.: bullying, patronizing behaviour, attitude problems, bad moods, which in turn gets took out on us patients, the doctors in particular." A further entry read: "There's no doubt I will [be] battling my mental health for a lot [of] time, maybe forever. But deep down I know I will never go back to the life I once lived."

Other passages show that Freddy had been documenting his experiences in the diary to show legal professionals in the future. In one he writes: "It's disgusting what's going on. I will show every page of this note pad to every manager + solicitor that's willing to see it."

During his closing report into Freddy’s death on Thursday, November 24, Coroner Oliver Longstaff agreed that he had been “frustrated” by the slow progress of his treatment.

But Georgette felt lessons at the hospital would not be learned following Freddy’s tragic death, and blasted the institution for putting their “reputation” above patient safety.

She said: “This is the trust whose reputation is above patient safety, and I think that’s quite clear in Freddy’s file, and certainly how they handled my complaint. I haven’t got Freddy and never will have. They say lessons are learned, but I don’t think they’re learned from this at all.”

Carol Harris, Chief Operating Officer at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Mr Civil’s death.

"At our Trust, the safety of the people who access our services is a priority for us. Following the incident we carried out a thorough investigation and developed a detailed action plan to enhance our service delivery.

"As a learning trust we continue to work to ensure the services we deliver are the best they can be.”