The story of our journey to justice for Alice, captured so eloquently here by @jamesmelley & @AlisonHoltBBC, who followed what was a marathon trial at the Old Bailey, with all its twists & turns. Originally scheduled for 9 weeks, it lasted over 7 months:.

RT @sarasiobhan: What a gruelling thread. seriously how do these NHS Trusts get it so blinking wrong repeatedly? There's even a 'Say Sorr….

NELFT & Goodmayes Hospital provide MH services for the Health Secretary’s constituency. His predecessor at the time of Alice’s death gave us a written apology (unlike NELFT). Will @wesstreeting want to meet with us to hear of our experiences, shared by so many across the country?.

I’m highlighting this because if, even after a 7+ month trial & conviction, NELFT do not seem capable of convincingly demonstrating remorse, what hope is there of any robust changes in this “culture of impunity” (the words of a coroner) which still prevails in this organisation?.

An apology to our family for the deplorable circumstances of Alice’s death has never happened, either during, or now beyond the long uphill journey to the Old Bailey - even if they in any way attempt to convince themselves or the public otherwise.

The front-facing edifice of NELFT as seen by the public seems impressive. But behind their well-curated facade, it’s a heap of rubble as far as we’re concerned. This ‘sympathy statement’ is typical of the disingenuous behaviour we’ve repeatedly observed & endured for a decade.

Maybe they’ve been too busy attending glitzy award ceremonies, congratulating each other on promotions, dreaming up the latest PR hashtags, briefing their formidable battery of lawyers, or ruminating endlessly over policy updates - or whether or not to remove lethal risk items.

Unsurprisingly they’re still working on it - 9 years since putting that to us in writing & 10 years since Alice’s beautiful life was extinguished due to reckless apathy, whilst she was detained in the death trap that was Hepworth ward (afterwards expediently rebranded Knight).

In March 2016, NELFT stated in a letter to us they were “willing to make an appropriate form of apology to the family & perhaps we can discuss how best this might be done”. Lukewarm words. “Aspirational” much like their policies, as described by a defence expert witness in court.

They were hellbent on exonerating themselves of culpability, their whole defence predicated on innocence & claiming standards of care behind locked doors matched up to their raft of glossy policies. Patently not the case & the SMT were evidently oblivious & Missing in Action.

What we’ve predominantly seen & experienced is conceited hubris, entrenched denial & entitlement, completely devoid of plausible humility, demonstrated to us for 10 years. This was especially conspicuous throughout the recent trial that ended in their conviction.

Any such rhetoric now is too little too late. NELFT have done nothing to demonstrate contrition or remorse in any way, shape or form. We’ve had words of condolence, ‘sympathies’ in statements & even come across similar platitudes couched within 100s of pages of board papers.

Maybe Mr Calaminus (CEO) & Eileen Taylor (Chair) can reflect on this: we’ve never yet received an actual direct, personal & formal apology from NELFT in an entire decade for Alice’s traumatic death, while she was detained in your hospital for 5months specifically for her safety.

After being criminally convicted exactly 1 month ago of fatal Health & Safety violations, they condescended to offer ‘sympathy’, ‘thoughts’ & claim they will ‘reflect’ on the verdict.

NELFT had a decade to come up with these banal, hollow & tokenistic lines at the end of a 7+ month trial at the Old Bailey:

Our response to @NELFT’s ‘Sympathy Statement’ & the resounding ongoing absence of any credible remorse, still less an actual apology, for the scale of failings by them & their staff, directly resulting in the preventable death of our daughter Alice in July 2015. 🧵

My sweet daughter Alice, on this 10th anniversary since that night which forever broke our lives, I want to tell you how your life shined so very brightly, your light lives every day in our hearts & will never be extinguished. You are & always will be precious, honoured & loved.

It included these words: ."If I speak or do anything I'm scared of saying or doing anything wrong & getting in TROUBLE (told off) or my treatment stopping." .(with 'trouble' crossed out & rewritten in capitals).Many of these disturbing details never came out in the recent trial.

Almost 17 months after you died we were belatedly informed by police there had been a note found on your bed. This came as a shock as it was the first time we were told. Your inquest by then had been suspended, but again this had never been handed in by anyone for the Coroner.

We can only believe it must have been conveniently disposed of. The mobile phone & sim you'd been using throughout the admission, even until less than an hour before you were found also disappeared when you died & no satisfactory explanation was ever given to us by the S.I. Team.

After you died that night your painting 'disappeared' & was never handed in for any investigations or for the Coroner. At your funeral I asked the Dr where it was. You'd described on the back how you were feeling that fatal day. She tried to blame nursing staff but had no answer.