case study 'My brother's death could have been prevented'

The Sutherland family has had more than its fair share of knocks, but the death of Colin five years ago remains a raw wound. It is something his sisters Maggie and Catherine still struggle to talk about. Their grief at the loss of a cherished brother is made worse by the manner in which he died.

Maggie cannot hold back the tears when talking about their brother. "It was a nightmare," she says. "As far as I'm concerned, my brother's death could have been prevented. The system let him down."

Colin Sutherland (above) was 43 when he was arrested by police in 2002 following an incident at the Royal Cornhill hospital in Aberdeen, where he was being assessed. He had spent several years battling mental health problems. He knew he was ill and wanted to be cared for in hospital. But he was told he was "beyond help".

Two days later he went to his doctor's surgery, covered himself with petrol and set himself alight. He died shortly after in Glasgow Royal Infirmary's burns unit.

In a statement at the time, Colin's family said: "Police were confident Colin would be sectioned following the incident at Cornhill. But as the charges were dropped he was left to go home without further help."

Yesterday Maggie recalled: "He went to the surgery and said, 'Please take me in, I'm not well'. Can you imagine what the people in the surgery saw, what they have to remember? He was an inferno, a ball of fire.

"Colin was a very caring person. He would have been very saddened by the thought of that. But that's the reality of the mental health service when it goes wrong. He was pumped full of drugs and, from what I can gather, he was black and blue with bruises when the police took him. The next thing, he was just released: 'Out you go'."

Catherine added: "Colin was just one of many thousands in this situation. People are scared of situations when you say mental health. But it's part of life. It has to be addressed." AJ

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