The inquest into the death of a 23-year-old who was found unconscious in the toilet of a psychiatric hospital has resumed.
Stephanie Mullineux, 23, was discovered lying face down in a locked cubicle at Leigh Infirmary. She died the next day after her life support machine was switched off on February 8, 2016.
In 2019, Deborah Howard - the healthcare assistant who found Ms Mullineux - avoided jail for perverting the course of justice after it emerged Ms Mullineux was not given immediate medical treatment as she lay in the cubicle. Howard had previously stated that a nurse had treated Ms Mullineux at once.
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In a pre-inquest review on Monday (July 3) at Bolton Coroners Court, coroner Peter Sigee said Ms Mullineux's full inquest would likely take place in May and June 2024. The review heard Miss Mullineux had been found hanged in the cubicle. Howard will be required to attend the inquest as a witness, Mr Sigee said.
During Howard's 2019 sentencing, the court heard Ms Mullineux had been admitted to the Cavendish psychiatric ward following a history of self harm and attempted suicide.
Staff were instructed to check on her every ten minutes but the alarm was raised after she locked herself inside a toilet cubicle. Howard gained entry to the cubicle and found Ms Mullineux unconscious. Despite Howard's initial suggestion that Ms Mullineux had received immediate medical treatment, the court heard how she later had been 'losing sleep' over the lie.
Matthew Corbett-Jones, prosecuting, said: ''In a statement prepared for the coroner the defendant explained that following the discovery of Stephanie, a nurse had arrived and provided treatment which had been performed until paramedics arrived.
''However, in January 2017, during a meeting with the then ward manager, she explained she had concerns about the forthcoming inquest because her statement was inaccurate and misleading.
'She expressed herself as being concerned about Stephanie's parents knowing the truth about the circumstances of Stephanie's death and felt unable to maintain her account in front of a coroner.
''She indicated that following the initial discovery of Stephanie in the toilet, at the instruction of a staff nurse, Stephanie had been left for a period of time, during which a patient on the ward had gone to the toilet where Stephanie had been left and raised the alarm.
"It was only after this that staff returned to Stephanie and treatment was commenced.''
Howard said she and another member of staff were told by a nurse to return to their normal duties after finding Miss Mullineux, who is from Liverpool.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Gioserano said he accepted that Howard had a 'degree of pressure' over her to leave Ms Mullineux and the decision to leave her unattended was not her 'initial decision or idea'.
''But you should have been prepared to tell the truth, no matter the consequences. You owed the truth to Stephanie, to her family and, eventually, to the coroner," he said.
Four of Howard's former nursing colleagues stood trial at an earlier hearing, accused of lying during the inquiry into Miss Mullineux's death. They were all cleared of perverting justice on the orders of the judge.
Howard, from Wigan, was ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to her deception.
Ms Mullineux's full inquest is expected to take place next year.
