Amarnih Lewis-Daniel inquest hears from probation officer

The inquest into the death of 24-year-old Amarnih Lewis-Daniel heard evidence that she was arrested on March 6, 2021, after causing a disturbance at her mother’s home.

She reportedly attacked officers when they tried to detain her. Police later found a kitchen knife in the room where she had been arrested, East London Coroner’s Court heard.

It was her second arrest in five weeks, the first being at her own home on January 29 after smashing windows in her seventh-storey flat in Chadwell Heath and throwing furniture out of them.

Amarnih was seen at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on March 8, 2021, by Simon Carpenter, a mental health practitioner at Together, which provided mental health assistance at the court.

Jurors were told that Mr Carpenter had since left the service and could not be traced and brought to court, so another Together employee, Rizwana Umarji, provided evidence based on his records.

Mr Carpenter had recorded that Amarnih was referred to Together on March 8 because she was “extremely difficult to manage in the cells”.

When he offered her an assessment, she “declined in an aggressive manner”.

“She presented as highly agitated and restless,” he wrote. She was slamming her hand against the cell door and shouting, “Just leave me alone!”

In court, she refused to any questions, including her name, and shouted: “Just send me to hell!”

Magistrates ordered that she be remanded in custody for an assessment under the Mental Health Act.

But later that day she was brought back before magistrates with “an improved presentation” and was released on unconditional bail, the court heard.

As a result, no mental health assessment was ordered.

Nine days later, emergency services were called to a fire at Amarnih’s flat in Highview House, Whalebone Lane. Her body was found in the car park outside.

A jury at the court in Walthamstow have been told they must consider whether Amarnih deliberately brought about her own death and whether the actions or inactions of public bodies contributed.

Mr Carpenter reported Amarnih’s behaviour at court to London CLC, a firm contracted by the government when it privatised the probation service in 2014.

Amarnih was on the books of the Hornchurch probation office after being sentenced in November 2020 to a 12-month community order for a 2018 offence of violent disorder, the court heard.

Careen Glen, Amarnih’s probation service officer, testified today (November 22) that she had never been informed of her January 29 arrest, but was informed of the March arrest and court appearance.

By that time, Amarnih had failed to turn up to appointments or respond to any communication from her since mid-January. Mrs Glen had issued a “breach notice”, the court was told.

Coroner Nadia Persaud asked whether Mrs Glen had considered making a mental health referral after Amarnih became unresponsive and then got arrested.

Mrs Glen responded that while she was aware of Amarnih’s mental health diagnoses, which included anxiety, depression and traits of emotionally unstable personality disorder, Amarnih had always been calm with her.

“I don’t believe that there was anything to be concerned about in terms of how she presented with me in the past,” she said.

“This happens quite frequently,” she added. “They miss an appointment, don’t turn up.”

“When you received that information from Simon, did you think, ‘Actually, well this is a very different presentation to what I’ve experienced’?” asked Mrs Persaud.

“Yes, I thought that,” she replied. “But then, when he said that she had actually improved by the afternoon and that she had actually been bailed, I thought whatever had upset her, she had calmed down.”

She believed magistrates “wouldn’t have released her on bail if they didn’t think she was safe.”

Mrs Glen said she suspected Amarnih, at the prospect of being remanded for a mental health assessment, might have worried about what type of facility she would be sent to and made a concerted effort to calm down.

Amarnih was a transgender woman and had been on the waiting list for the Tavistock Clinic, which specialises in treatment for gender identity issues, for two-and-a-half years.

The court heard from her mother that Amarnih had identified as female from a young age, began presenting herself publicly as female at age 13 and legally changed her name as an adult.

Mrs Glen testified that Amarnih had complained constantly of the long waiting list to be seen by the Tavistock Clinic and her desire to complete her physical transition.

The inquest continues.