Care worker fled UK after teen death using false identity

Ruth Szymankiewicz died aged 14 (Family handout/PA) PA Media

A care worker who fled the UK after a teenage girl died under his supervision had been employed using false identity documents, an inquest has heard. The man disappeared to Ghana and has "never to be seen again" following the death of 14-year-old Ruth Szymankiewicz.

Ruth died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on 14th February 2022 while she was a patient at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire. The teenager suffered from an eating disorder and had been placed under strict one-to-one supervision following a self-harming incident 10 days before her death.

Worker abandoned supervision duties

On 12th February 2022, the staff member responsible for watching Ruth - a man then known as Ebo Acheampong - failed to maintain the constant supervision plan, Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court heard on Monday. Coroner Ian Wade KC told jurors that Acheampong had been using false identity documents and was hired by the hospital under a false name.

The evidence showed he had been employed through an agency called Platinum, who checked his identity documents and even trained him through a day-and-a-half course. These processes were apparently sufficient to enable the hospital to employ him, the coroner explained.

Left shift without handover

Around 8pm that evening, Acheampong ended his shift without knowing where Ruth was and without ensuring another staff member took over the one-to-one care regime. "He simply left," Mr Wade told the jury.

Acheampong never returned to work at Huntercombe Hospital after learning what happened that evening. Thames Valley Police launched an investigation and discovered he had gone to Heathrow Airport and boarded a plane to Ghana.

Girl left alone for 15 minutes

Ruth was left unsupervised for 15 minutes during which she was able to asphyxiate herself, the coroner said. A post-mortem examination carried out by the Home Office determined the preliminary cause of death to be "hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy" - a type of brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

The court heard that Huntercombe Hospital had been inspected twice by the Care Quality Commission prior to the incident. "The CQC had not reported favourably on Huntercombe," the coroner told the inquest.

Hospital since closed down

Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ruth's death, has since closed the facility. The inquest continues as the jury examines the circumstances surrounding the teenager's death.

"You will not hear from that man, and he let Ruth down," Mr Wade told jurors about the missing care worker.

(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.