News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A young woman who once challenged Theresa May about funding for mental health issues during an interview on a BBC local radio station was found hanged three years later, an inquest heard.

Teyneen Taylor from Maidenhead, Berkshire, met with her local MP Mrs May in 2015 to discuss funding for mental health services on behalf of Rethink Mental Illness and their "fair funding" campaign, the inquest was told.

Her dad told the inquest jury how his daughter felt passionately about the subject and aspired to work in the field.

He told a coroner that Teyneen had challenged Mrs May during an interview on BBC Radio Berkshire about the lack of money for treating the mentally ill.

She also used her young voice to advocate mental health improvements in a blog before her tragic death.

However, when she discovered she had multiple sclerosis, her mental health declined as she was terrified she wouldn't walk again and desperately tried to overcome the feeling that it was a "death sentence," her blog explained.

Teyneen, who was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, was found hanged at home on October 16, 2018.

She hanged herself just a day after being discharged from a psychiatric hospital, the inquest was told.

(Image: HNP Picture Desk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

Before her tragic death, she had explained to her blog followers why she felt so passionately about mental health.

She wrote: "I have watched family members and friends battle with mental health issues.

"I have lost two friends to mental illness and recently watched a childhood friend lose her mum because of mental health related issues."

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Wais Ravi, from Prospect Park Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, told the inquest jury how Teyneen was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was admitted to the mental health hospital on July 15, 2018 after she was found in the river by police.

Speaking to the doctor, senior coroner Heidi Connor said: "She had a very difficult time as an inpatient. In your statement you said 'it was identified that hospital admission did not work for Teyneen'.

"Teyneen simply was not safe enough to be discharged but it was not helpful for her to stay at the hospital."

(Image: HNP Picture Desk/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

Dr Ravi replied: "When she was aged one year the relationship with her mother was quite abusive and because of that, since the age of 12, she had been self-harming and suffering with her mental health.

"At the end of her admission unfortunately she killed herself.

"Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder is one of the most difficult conditions for patients, staff and doctors. I describe it like staying on a horse and the horse can do anything, you cannot control it."

The doctor said: "It was felt by all of those present that hospital was not suitable for Teyneen. I do not think it was her intention to die, I believe she did it accidentally.

"Teyneen tried to harm herself to ask for help as sometimes she could not talk to people. I found her a polite and nice girl who tried to help people."

Mark Taylor wrote a tribute to his daughter which was read to the inquest jury along with a photograph which was passed to the panel.

It said: "Teyneen the young woman, the writer and the thinker. She loved arts and crafts and had a handbag collection that would rival Meghan Markle.

"She had a wonderful sense of humour and loved all kinds of music. She always put others before herself.

"She was very well-read, reading anything from fictional to factual. She read up on mental health issues before writing her own blogs.

"She also had a radio interview with Theresa May which she was very proud of doing. She was a northerner stuck in the south."

Joking with the father, Mrs Connor said: "I too am a northerner stuck in the south Mr Taylor, you'll notice how I say bath."

She added: "I am very sorry to meet you in these sad circumstances, as far as I am concerned you and your family are the most important people in this room today.

"I know this will be a very difficult week for you. We have to make sure we deal with the evidence fully, fairly and fiercely."

The inquest, expected to last three days, continues.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.