A woman drowned in the Thames days after writing an eerie message on her calendar.
Lull Fanus was discovered on March 22 near Wandsworth Bridge, five days after she was initially reported missing to the police, an inquest heard.
When the 24-year-old's room was searched by her sister, the words 'last day on earth' were found written on her calendar, My London reported.
The promising student of philosophy at the London School of Economics had been diagnosed with psychosis prior to her death.
If the weeks before she lost her life she had become increasingly erratic, the inquest heard.
At 3.30am on March 17, she left her home in Fulham and travelled to Putney Bridge where she entered the Thames around 5.15am.
Her family had become concerned about her behaviour in recent weeks as she had stopped taking her regular medication, was not eating properly and had begun going for walks during the course of the night.
For a short while she had been followed out of the home by her sister Ellenm, who had to turn back as she was not “dressed appropriately at the time”.
Lull was reported missing and a police investigation was launched, with Sergeant Darren Bull noting: “The report was assessed by an inspector but then it was passed to the risk and demand team for a more informed decision.
"The missing person wasn’t raised at that stage and that was based on the fact that she was an adult and the behaviour was not out of character.”
The local mental health service told police that she suffered from a history of psychosis and had been previously been suicidal, leading the investigation to be elevated to medium risk.
On March 18, Lull’s sister Ellen discovered an entry in Lull’s bedroom calendar for March 16.
It read ‘Last day on earth’, leading her to contact the police, who then elevated the missing person investigation to a high-risk ranking.
An extensive review of CCTV footage led police to conclude that the young woman had gone into the Thames.
PC Heckles, an officer with the Met’s Marine Unit said that he had been called to a location just east of Wandsworth Bridge at 9.40am on March 22 after a member of the public spotted a “lifeless body”.
He noted that the body had been in the water for “a considerable period” and continued: “I was confident the person was deceased. I could see nothing out of the ordinary in the immediate vicinity.”
Another police officer identified her body by her clothing and a photograph.
In conducting her post-mortem, forensic pathologist Dr O’Higgins said: “She was sadly in a pronounced state of decomposition surrounded in mud sand and leaves.
"Internal examination was largely unremarkable aside from the effects of being in the water.”
There were no other significant findings and her cause of death was given as drowning.
The inquest at West London Coroners Court heard that Lull was first diagnosed with psychosis after she was brought into A&E in June 2020 due to her “bizarre behaviour” and was placed on antipsychotic medication.
She had improved over the following year, however concerns were once again raised on March 1, 2022, after it was discovered that she was sleeping with a knife under her pillow, although she had denied thoughts of self-harm.
On March 16, a home visit was conducted after her mum contacted the mental health services to report Lull’s behaviour.
She said that her daughter had gone for a walk at 2am, wasn’t eating properly and her behaviour was “causing concern” for the family.
The inquest heard that the team had “discussed her behaviour of going out at odd hours of the day and the need to address that”, but the hope was that Lull’s problems could be managed at the family home.
Following her tragic death, the West London NHS Trust conducted a self-critical analysis to pinpoint if things could have been conducted differently.
It found that while there were “no errors in treatment”, there were three areas of learning to improve. Assistant Coroner Ivor Collett said those “deal with risk management, working closely with the family and regular spot checks”.
Speaking in response to this, Lull’s sister Ellen said: “My point is that it is a very sad situation because my sister was unwell. This was a situation that could have been prevented with the right medication.
“My sister had so much life ahead of her, she was beautiful, she was young but like I said, her illness at the time took over her life.
Concluding the inquest of “this extremely sad case of this bright young woman”, Mr Collett said that he could not find the cause of death as suicide as it was unsure if Lull “knew what the result would be” by entering the Thames.
He said: “It seems likely that she deliberately entered the water, however she had a history of mental health problems and it is not known if she intended to cause her death.
“Inevitably looking back now, the family can see moments when they wish the Trust had intervened more strenuously, more positively, and even against Lull’s wish by sectioning her.
"I don’t have enough information before me to criticise the Trust - hindsight is a wonderful thing. Of course the family wish that something more dramatic had been done.”
He concluded: “The answer I come to on the evidence, because of her mental state and her volatility, is that whilst the police evidence does show a deliberate act of entering the water, I cannot be satisfied she intended to cause her own death.”
