Colette McCulloch

Colette McCulloch, 35, was a talented young White woman. She loved to draw, paint and write. She lived in Brighton since doing an English degree at the University of Sussex.

Colette struggled with anorexia, anxiety and OCD since childhood, but was only diagnosed with high-functioning autism aged 33.

In 2016, the NHS referred Colette to Pathway House, where she received totally inadequate treatment. Colette would roam the district, going missing for whole days. On 28 July 2016, she was run over and killed by a lorry while walking at 3am on the nearby A1. Having been missing from the clinic for 17 hours, staff made no attempt to find her.

Coroner Ian Pears said Colette’s death was a simple traffic accident and refused her parents’ demands for a full inquest.

Following a gruelling legal battle and Crowd Justice campaign, Pears was forced to recuse himself and a full inquest was secured. The coroner concluded Colette’s death was "an avoidable tragedy" resulting from "multiple failures by the care home", as was later confirmed by the Care Quality Commission.

Her parents, Andy and Amanda McCulloch, wrote the memoir Why Can’t You Hear Me? to share Colette’s story, their fight for justice and it includes Colette’s own art and writing.

Watch Andy and Amanda McCulloch speaking about Colette and the inquest.