Delusional woman died in flat blaze after she ‘lit 17 candles for a date with her imaginary boyfriend Ian’

A WOMAN has died in a flat blaze after she lit 17 candles for a romantic date with her imaginary boyfriend, an inquest heard.

Jane Ellis, 46, of Oxford Road, Sandhurst, Berks, had long harboured a make-believe relationship with a man she called “Ian”.

A coroner heard on Tuesday that relatives of Ms Ellis believed more should have been done to have her sectioned under the Mental Health Act so that she could be put in a place of safety.

The inquest was told that after she spinster lit the candles, neighbours in the flats knocked on her door to say that the building was on fire.

She slammed the door shut and ignored the warnings and was later found lying face-down on the bathroom floor.

The family criticised a crisis mental health care team for leaving her alone in her flat shortly before the blaze.

She was airlifted to hospital in an induced coma but died on February 8 last year.

Her brother-in-law, Andrew Manley, told the coroner: “In my opinion this was an entirely preventable incident, had Jane been put in a safe place and adequately monitored until she became well.

“We were pleading to speak to the assessor to give further information about her and we were refused point blank from doing so.”

He added: “If the candles were being used to contact an imaginary boyfriend you can at least appreciate that there is some risk there.”

The first day of the three day inquest in Reading was told that Ms Ellis was due to meet her friend, Susan Arnett, on February 6 before driving to Bristol for a Christian conference with Ms Ellis’ sister, Elizabeth Manley.

Ms Arnett told police that she had known Jane for 20 years and that she had a history of mental health illness and she was due to pick her up from Jane’s mother’s home at 9.30am, the day before the fire.

She said: “Jane texted back saying, ‘we are just getting ready’ and I presumed she meant her and her mother but in hindsight she probably meant her and Ian (Jane’s imaginary boyfriend).”

Ms Arnett arrived to find Jane was not at her mother’s home and the two drove to her flat.

“We saw Jane on the pavement, sitting on the kerb with a plastic carrier bag. Jane said she was just waiting for ‘Ian’ and then we could go.”

Ms Arnett said she had never heard of Ian and that Ms Ellis was verbally aggressive with her mother, who walked away from her.

“He was never a boyfriend. They had known a man called Ian when they lived in Gloucester,” she added.

Ms Arnett called Ms Ellis’ GP surgery, which had been responsible for her care after she was discharged from a mental health service team in July 2014.

Dr Deepak Goyal from Sandhurst Group Practice told the inquest he previously had to tell Ms Ellis that “Ian” was waiting at his practice.

Ms Ellis told people she and “Ian” were planning to get married and were going on honeymoon in Egypt.
The inquest continues.

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