Jury in inquest of girl who fatally self-harmed at hospital to consider whether she was unlawfully killed

Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on February 14 2022 while she was a patient at Huntercombe Hospital – also known as Taplow Manor – in Berkshire (Bhatt Murphy Solicitors/PA) -

A jury at the inquest of a teenager who fatally self-harmed while at a mental health hospital should consider whether she was unlawfully killed, a coroner has said.

Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, also called Taplow Manor, on 12 February 2022, despite requiring constant one-to-one observation.