The mother of a 16-year-old girl who died at an Essex mental health unit has made a direct appeal to the chair of a public inquiry, saying: “Don’t let the blood be on your hands – you can change things.”

Victoria Sebastian was giving evidence to the Lampard Inquiry in London, which is examining the deaths of more than 2,000 people under the care of Essex mental health services between 2000 and 2023.

Her daughter, Elise Sebastian, who was autistic, was found unresponsive in her room at the St Aubyn Centre in Colchester in April 2021.

During an emotional four-hour testimony, Victoria told the hearing on Monday: “They let my daughter die. My daughter meant nothing [to them]. Absolutely nothing.”

She said she believed Baroness Lampard had the power to ensure the inquiry recommendations would lead to meaningful change.

Baroness Lampard promised that bereaved families would be at the heart of the inquiry because she wanted to identify systemic failures which the country could learn from.

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), which runs mental health services in Essex, said it was sorry Elise “did not receive the care she deserved”.