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A TikTok star who died after consuming a poisonous substance she bought online told an NHS support worker about the purchase a month before her death, an inquest has heard.
Imogen Nunn took a poisonous substance and died in Brighton, East Sussex, on New Year’s Day 2023. The 25-year-old, who was deaf, raised awareness of hearing and mental health issues on her social media accounts, which gained more than 780,000 followers.
On Monday, an inquest into her death in Horsham heard that Nunn was “failed” by services that were meant to help her, according to a statement by her mother, Louise Sutherland.
The inquest was told that Nunn, who was called “Immy” by loved ones, had contacted her support worker at the deaf adult community team (DACT) at South West London and St George’s NHS trust on 23 November 2022, and told them she had “bought something online that she planned to take to end her life”.
She also made reference to a “pro-choice suicide forum”, the court heard.
In the statement read to the inquest, Thomas Beamont, representing Sutherland and Nunn’s father, Ray, said: “Ray and I believe that Immy felt hopeless and let down by the time of her death, and that she was failed.
“Immy didn’t want to die, but she was exhausted from fighting desperately for the help she needed.”
Sutherland told the court her daughter, who was born “profoundly deaf”, had mental health difficulties from age 14. In the years that followed, she made several attempts on her life, and was detained under the Mental Health Act in 2018.
During her time in hospital, Nunn began sharing her experiences on social media posts.
In a statement, Sutherland said: “She found success on TikTok where she established over 800,000 followers, a platform she used to share her experiences and struggles with mental health, and the challenges she faced as a deaf person.
“In her TikTok videos, Immy would put a positive spin on her experiences. We thought it was a good outlet for her, helping her to build up her self-esteem which had almost completely depleted after missing out on so much of her teenage life.”
On 15 September 2021, after spending nearly four years as an inpatient in Springfield hospital’s ward for deaf adults in south-west London, Nunn was discharged and started living in a flat in Brighton, with the support of community mental health teams.
But the inquest was told by July 2022 her mental health began deteriorating again and she stopped engaging with mental health professionals. The court heard she bought lethal chemicals online on 14 November and received the parcel at home on 21 November.
On 23 November, she contacted her allocated worker at DACT, explaining that she had suicidal thoughts. This prompted Sussex police to conduct a welfare check, but no British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter attended, and Nunn did not see mental health professionals “for at least several weeks afterwards”, the coroner heard.
After spending Christmas with her parents, Nunn harmed herself on 29 December and went to A&E at Royal Sussex county hospital with a wound on her arm.
The inquest heard she texted her care coordinator at Sussex Partnership NHS foundation trust, saying: “I’m simply having the worst few months and I think I need to be admitted to a ward with sign language. I cannot look after myself any more. I can easily go into the last resort and I don’t want to.”
Despite this, Nunn was left alone in the emergency room and left before being seen by the hospital mental health team.
On 30 December, Nunn told her psychologist that she “did not feel safe” and had “a plan to kill herself” by drinking poison. She told them that she did not possess any poison, and agreed to be admitted into a mental health crisis facility “to keep herself safe”, the inquest heard.
But her care coordinator did not meet her that day as planned, and her admission never happened, the court was told.
Separately Kenneth Law, a Canadian chef, is facing a murder trial in his home country for allegedly supplying poisonous chemicals to people around the world who have ended their lives. He has been linked to dozens of suicides in the UK, according to the National Crime Agency.
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In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
