A mum’s petition to launch a public enquiry into her son’s death has reached 100k signatures, despite being closed early by Parliament.

Melanie Leahy, of Tolleshunt Knights, launched the petition in May in a bid for her son’s case to be reopened.

Matthew Leahy was found hanged in Chelmsford’s Linden Centre, age 20, after being admitted for a delusional disorder caused by cannabis use.

The November 23 deadline was cut short to Wednesday November 6 because of the upcoming General Election.

The campaign, that received backing from Witham MP Priti Patel, mental health charity Sane and former Care Minister Norman Lamb, should now be considered for debate in Parliament.

The Petitions Committee said: “The General Election means that all the Committees have to stop work.

“When there is a general election, Parliament closes for a few weeks before the vote. The petitions website is part of the official work of Parliament, so it had to stop too.

“New Committees will be appointed by the new House of Commons and until then, there are no Chairs or Members of Committees.

“There will be a new Petitions Committee, and decisions about petition debates will become the responsibility of that Committee. We don’t know yet when that will happen.”

Although Essex Police previously uncovered “clear and basic failings”, they said there was insufficient evidence to bring corporate manslaughter charges, and investigators said they will take no further action.

Three nurses were later disciplined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for falsifying vital care plans for Matthew, and an inquest found there had been multiple failings.

Melanie hopes the enquiry will force witnesses to present new evidence under oath.