ONE of the top doctors at a Headington NHS unit said staff “made the right decisions” about a teenager who died under their care, an inquest heard.

Speaking via videolink to a jury at Oxford Coroner’s Court, Dr Valerie Murphy said the death of 18-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk was “an absolute tragedy” but staff had made good choices regarding his care at the time.

Connor – who had autism, epilepsy and a learning difficulty – was found submerged in a bath at Slade House at 9am on July 4, 2013. He died at the John Radcliffe hospital.

Asked whether she had anything she would like to admit to Connor’s family, Dr Murphy – a consultant psychiatrist at Slade House at the time of Connor’s death – said: “It was an absolute tragedy. In hindsight we could have made some different decisions, but with the information we had at the time we made the right decision. I don’t believe there was a failure in care on my part.”

Earlier in the inquest, pathologist Dr Ben Phillips said Connor’s death was likely to have been caused by an epileptic seizure.

According to family members, Connor had not suffered an epileptic fit for the past 18 months except for one incident the previous December.

During his stay at Slade House from March until July, staff logged four incidents – including being found with a chewed tongue, and later a bloody nose – in which Connor showed signs of having had a fit. In each case, however, they concluded that had not been the case.

A month before Connor died, his 10-minute observations for epilepsy were reduced to hourly.

The inquest continues.