A MOTHER says her petition for a public inquiry into her son’s death has reached a major milestone after breaking the 35,000-name barrier.

Mum Melanie launched a petition this summer in a bid to get the issue debated in Parliament.

She has now reached 35,000 signatures out of the 100,000 it will take to bring the issue to Parliament after the investigation into Matthew’s death was dropped.

Melanie said: “Reaching 10,000 was a huge milestone to forcing a response from Government.

“To reach 35,000 has been a huge achievement, not only in the amount that have signed but the masses of messages of support I have received.

“I now go onwards with the backing of 35,000 genuine supporters who know how important the issues I’m highlighting are.”

Matthew was admitted to Chelmsford’s Linden Centre, aged 20, with a delusional disorder caused by cannabis use and was found hanging seven days later.

Melanie’s plea for signatures on Facebook says: “His post mortem revealed date rape drug GHB and four to five unexplained needle puncture marks in his groin.

“Matthew spent seven days in a ‘place of safety’ and during that time he was drugged and sustained injuries that suggested he had been raped.

“They have no right whatsoever to be called places of safety, because time and time again it is proven they are not.”

She has until November to reach her 100,000-name target and wants to fight for an overhaul of mental health services.

Melanie added: “If I don’t get enough signatures to bring about a debate of this case in Parliament through this petition, I will find another route to get justice and the change needed. This has become much, much more than just a petition.

“With the daily mass of messages of support I receive from many families and patients, I can tell you each and every one of the signatures received to date has been from a person who genuinely cares.

“They care about the changes needed to services today – not tomorrow or next week, but now.

“What began as a fight for truth about Matthew’s death has led to so much more and now encompasses a fight for others failed by the trust.”

Melanie’s petition says a four-and-a-half-year Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman Report concluded that the investigation was “not adequate and lacks credibility”.

The determined mum says she won’t stop pushing, adding: “There has been an inadequacy of investigation. A human rights violation.”

She is now calling for an inquiry which will force witnesses to give evidence under oath.

Melanie added: “To all those that have signed the petition to date, I offer my sincere thanks for their support and I encourage them all to continue to talk about my case and my fight for changes for others.

“The petition is giving families failed by the system hope. Many have given up but now support me in this quest, not only for Matthew, but for the many who have been failed.”

To sign the petition visit: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/255823