A FAMILY has paid tribute after a man fell to his death from a motorway bridge.

An inquest into the death of Muhammed Wajid, 30, of Lidget Green, concluded at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

The two-day hearing heard how Mr Wajid was a voluntary patient at Lynfield Mount Hospital when he died on September 13, 2018.

He was an intelligent man who embarked on an engineering degree at university and went on to find work in an engineering role, but had to leave after becoming unwell.

Mr Wajid had struggled with mental illness since 2011 and was admitted to Lynfield Mount on a number of occasions.

The inquest charted his long battle with mental illness, including how he had been suspicious of medication and the impact it had on him, feeling the affects outweighed the benefits.

Prior to his death in September 2018, Mr Wajid had been in Lynfield Mount from May to July that same year.

He was then discharged to be managed under a Community Treatment Order, which gives supervised treatment in the community but means clinicians can return someone to hospital for immediate treatment if necessary.

The hearing heard that on September 12  Mr Wajid was detained by police through their powers under the Mental Health Act near Scammonden Bridge.

He was taken to a place of safety at Calderdale Royal Hospital. An assessment was carried out and it was determined he did not need to be detained any further under the Mental Health Act as he was prepared to be a voluntary patient at Lynfield Mount. He was taken there by family at around midnight.

The following morning, Mr Wajid, who was an informal admission, asked if he could go to the Co-op for some breakfast and after carrying out an assessment, mental health nurse Tandiwe Dziya approved the leave for 30 minutes. During the assessment, she asked a number of questions where he said he felt alright, that he’d had a good night’s sleep and had time to reflect.

 When Mr Wajid did not return, attempts were made to contact him. The hospital heard from Mr Wajid, who assured them he was on his way back, but he was actually on his way to the bridge in a taxi.

Passers-by attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 10.09am. His death was ruled as suicide by jurors.

In looking at whether to make a report to prevent further deaths, Assistant Coroner Oliver Longstaff said it did not seem a case where had an assessment taken place in a different way, the outcome would have been any different to the one carried out.

The Trust had also been advised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), that, in effect, a blanket ban on leave was unlawful, so it was operating a system where it could not, on the advice of the CQC, defer or refuse an application for leave made by voluntary admitted patients. They had to be assessed on a case by case basis - and that was what was done. He said a report would be redundant because of the steps already taken.

Mr Longstaff said he would undertake enquiries as to whether a report had been made about the bridge and what response was made. He said he could then make a deferred decision as to whether make a report or not.

Following the inquest, Mr Wajid’s family said: “He was a nice, caring person. He was a really good uncle, he was very intelligent - he did his degree despite his illness.

“We thought he would recover, we did not think this would happen. We’ll remember the good times we spent with him and it will give us some comfort. If anything good can come out of this for someone else is that it does not happen again.”

They said they hoped something would be done about the bridge.

A spokesperson for Highways England said: “Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this incident. Safety is Highways England’s top priority, and any death on our roads is one too many.

-“The new designs to improve safety at Scammonden Bridge have been completed and are currently undergoing independent technical checks. We plan to start work this year and we are currently in talks with Kirklees Council, Calderdale Council and West Yorkshire Police regarding plans for traffic management. A further update on necessary road closures will be provided once these plans have been finalised.”

If you need to talk, Samaritans are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 116 123. Visit www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan.