'Our daughter was failed' - TikTok star died in Sussex after ingesting a substance she bought online

Deaf TikTok star Imogen ‘Immy’ Nunn, 25, died in Brighton, on New Year’s Day 2023. Immy’s death’s has been linked to a murder trial involving a Canadian chef, who is accused of supplying chemicals to people around the world who have ended their lives.

Her parents – Louise Sutherland and Ray Nunn, from Bognor Regis – attended an inquest in Horsham on Monday (March 17), which is expected to continue for two weeks.

The first day of the inquest heard that Immy – who amassed more than 780,000 followers on social media platform TikTok – suffered with her mental health since the age of 14. She used her online following to raise awareness of hearing and mental health issues.

In her videos, Immy would ‘put a positive spin on her experiences’.

Her parents said: “We thought it was a good outlet for her, helping her to build up her self-esteem which had almost completely depleted after missing out on so much of her teenage life.”

‘Lack of urgency’

After making several attempts on her life, Immy was detained under the Mental Health Act in 2018.

She spent nearly four years in Springfield Hospital’s ward for deaf adults in south-west London.

In September 2021, she was discharged and moved into a flat in Brighton – where she was visited by community mental health teams.

The inquest heard that Immy’s situation initially improved – and it seemed she was on the road to recovery.

However, her mental health severely declined and she stopped engaging with mental health professionals, the inquest heard.

In November 2022, she informed her support worker at the deaf adult community team (DACT) at South West London and St George’s NHS Trust that she had ‘bought something online that she planned to take to end her life’.

Her parents’ witness statement added: “[She] made reference to a plan to ‘catch the bus’ and a ‘pro choice’ suicide forum.”

A welfare check was subsequently carried out by Sussex Police.

However, this was made without a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. This was of ‘serious concern’ to Immy’s parents, compounded by their feeling that there was a ‘lack of urgency and appreciation of the seriousness of the situation’.

They added that mental health professionals ‘do not appear to have met with her for at least several weeks afterwards’.

‘That was the last time I heard from her’

After a self-harm incident in late December, Immy told her care coordinator at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust that she was ‘having the worst few months and could no longer look after herself’, the inquest heard.

She feared that she was ‘losing the plot’, adding: “I've tried the second resort and it didn’t work and I know I can easily go into the last resort and I don't want to.”

Despite this, the family said it ‘appears that Immy was left alone at A&E on December 29’.

The inquest heard that Immy, on December 30, told her psychologist she ‘had strong thoughts of suicide’.

Unaware of this, Immy’s parents visited their daughter on New Years’ Eve in Brighton. They took her out for lunch and to the shops to find an outfit for a party she was planning to attend that evening.

Louise wrote: “Nothing Immy said or did that day concerned us at the time.

"The last contact I had with Immy was at midnight when I texted her to say Happy New Year.

"She texted us to wish us a Happy New Year; she said I love you, and that was the last time I heard from her.”

After discovering Immy had gone missing from the party – without her shoes and coat – a search was carried out at Shoreham Beach.

Her father then went to her flat where there were already a number of police officers.

Louise recalled: “He [Ray] was told that he wasn’t allowed into the flat, but I remember he called and said something like ‘it doesn’t look good’. The next call I received from Ray was to tell me that Immy had died.”

‘Our whole world is broken’

The inquest heard emotional tributes to Immy and two of her TikTok videos were played before proceedings began.

“Immy was the most beautiful, kind, gentle and loving daughter,” Ms Sutherland wrote in a statement, read to the inquest by family representative Thomas Beamont.

“Our whole world is broken by her death; she is missed by her brother and sisters, and Immy’s niece and nephews have lost their favourite auntie.

"We are completely devastated by Immy’s death. We never gave up hope that Immy would have the best life and get the right help but that never happened.

"We believe that Immy’s death was avoidable and that there were several missed opportunities to help her and in which it is clear to us that Immy was calling out for help.

"Immy didn’t want to die, but she was exhausted from fighting desperately for the help she needed.

"Ray and I believe that Immy felt hopeless and let down by the time of her death, and that she was failed.

"We believe that Immy’s death was avoidable, and that had appropriate actions been taken in response to the numerous times Immy contacted professionals she trusted asking for help, she would still be alive today.”

Omar Nasiruddin – a deaf service consultant psychiatrist of 15 years at St George's Mental Health NHS Trust – gave evidence during the inquest.

He was asked by Penelope Schofield – senior coroner for West Sussex – if anything more could have been done for Immy.

“That’s a very difficult question to answer,” he responded.

"Lots of things stood out about her during her time with the service and the work we did for her.

"One of the things that stood out was just how high and consistent her risk was from the time she came to us and throughout her time with us.

"We were always looking at what is working, what isn’t working and what we can change.

“There were several periods – before she passed away – where we sat down and said we were worried about her doing something. That was very much our thinking and we felt that we did not any leave any stone unturned.

“We did everything that we could.”

The inquest continues on Wednesday (March 19).

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