A mental patient who died after he absconded from a secure unit in Wandsworth could have been depressed after being rejected by his mother, a former friend has claimed.

Aaron Greenidge, 22, was being treated at Queen Mary Hospital, Roehampton, when he slipped away from guards on April 9.

Mr Greenidge, who lived in Boundaries Road, Balham, made his way to Tooting Broadway Tube station, where he was hit by a Tube train at about 9.30pm that evening.

He died hours later in hospital.

On March 29, Mr Greenidge updated his profile on the Facebook website.

It said Aaron “thinks need to change in my life starting from now” (sic).

His friend Daniel Specta said: “I knew Aaron from his time in Birmingham but he moved to London about two years ago.

“He was just a normal guy who liked going out. He had a stammer but I didn’t realise he had a big problem.

“He was looking for his natural parents.

"He found his mother but he didn’t get a good reception.

"He called me about a week before it happened saying he needed help. I feel guilty, I should have done more.”

Mr Specta said his friend’s flat had also recently been burgled.

Mr Greenidge was the second patient in two months, to die after leaving a Wandsworth unit run by South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust.

An inquest into his death was opened and adjourned last week as the Wandsworth Guardian led calls for an independent investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into security across the trust’s units to protect patients and the public.

A spokeswoman for the CQC said: “We are aware of concerns relating to absconsions at the trust and monitoring the situation closely.

“NHS London is also continuing to keep us informed on their work with the trust and we will carefully review the findings of the trust’s internal investigations into the absconsions.

“Should we find any areas of concern we will not hesitate to follow them up with the trust.”

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