Hip hop star Ebow Graham fell to his death ‘after string of NHS and ambulance failings’

The NHS has admitted ‘shortcomings’ after a hip hop star died after falling out of a third-storey window.

In April 2020, Foreign Beggars’ musician Ebow Graham – who performed under the name Metropolis – died at the age of 41.

His death was confirmed by the UK hip hop group on their Facebook page, who announced he’d died following an ‘accident’ at his home.

At the time they wrote that Graham, the father to a 10-year-old-son, was a ‘deep and peaceful soul, a dedicated and loving father’ who also ‘touched people with his warmth, insight, talent and generosity everywhere he went’.

Now, five years on, the East London NHS trust and London ambulance service have admitted failures that led to his death in a damning report.

Following a psychotic episode, Graham fell 40 feet out of a window from his flat in Clapton, east London.

It’s now emerged that hours earlier, London ambulance paramedics had dismissed Graham’s friends’ concerns about his behaviour, while a crisis call handler from the trust also failed to properly assess his risk or arrange an urgent mental health assessment within the recommended time.

Both have now reached an undisclosed settlement with Graham’s former partner Francesca Macri.

As reported by The Guardian, his friends first called 999 around 4.20pm on April 17 when they became worried for him.

Macri has said that when paramedics arrived, they were ‘dismissive and flippant’ and concluded the musician had ‘capacity over his care’.

A serious incident report that wad filed by the London ambulance service later admitted that they had failed to follow appropriate protocols by not contacting the mental health team for advice.

Two hours later at 6.30pm his flatmate, a GP, called the mental health crisis team urging for assistance as there were still grave concerns about Graham’s state of mind.

But instead of organising an urgent same-day assessment within a recommended four-hour window, the crisis team nurse only offered an appointment for the following morning.

Graham’s friends eventually took him to a local hospital but eventually took him home as he was agitated and restless while waiting to be seen.

Once back at his home, they made another two emergency calls. At 12.25am the next day they called again – this time to report that he’d fallen out of a window.

Although he was rushed to hospital he suffered a cardiac arrest on the way and died soon after.

The East London NHS foundation trust has now admitted shortcomings, while the London ambulance service’s investigation concluded there were ‘several missed opportunities’ to provide Graham with ‘expert help’.

Meanwhile is partner has said that since Graham’s death, his loved ones had a ‘number of concerns about the treatment he received, or rather didn’t receive, on that day.’

‘The paramedics that attended on that day were dismissive and flippant and ignored what Ebow’s friends were telling them,’ she said.

‘They asked whether Ebow had smoked cannabis and this concerns me – were they asking this because Ebow was a black man with dreadlocks? Why did it even matter what had caused Ebow’s psychosis and shouldn’t the focus have been on helping him? I cannot help but wonder whether racial profiling played any part in the way Ebow was treated.’

‘Our only hope now is that the heartbreak we’ve suffered highlights the dangers of drugs but also the need for those with mental health issues to receive the most appropriate and swift treatment. If Ebow had received the correct care on that fateful day he may still be here with us today,’ she added.

Meanwhile her lawyer, Leena Savjani said this case now meant it was ‘vital that lessons are learned from the issues that have been identified to help improve patient safety in relation to mental health’.

‘We’d always urge health professionals to listen carefully to loved ones when a person is in distress as it can help ensure that urgent assessments are carried out and appropriate help can be provided to those who need it,’ she added.

The London ambulance service’s chief executive Daniel Elkeles offered ‘sincere condolences’ to Graham’s loved ones.

‘We are sorry for the shortcomings in the care we provided to him in the hours before his death,’ he continued.

‘The inquest found we should have sought mental health specialist advice on whether Mr Graham had capacity to decline treatment. However, there was no finding of racial profiling and these are claims we strongly refute.

‘We carried out an investigation into the care of Mr Graham and there has been much learning and action for the trust in the five years since he died.’

Foreign Beggars were founded in London in 2002, forging a name in underground hip hop but later crossed into EDM territory with albums including United Colours of Beggattron.

They won best new act at the 2004 UK Hip Hop Awards and released 11 albums, with their most recent being 2019’s Matriarchy.

Metro has contacted the East London NHS trust for comment.

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