Ellis Redfern died aged 24 following the incident , which happened on the M61 between Farnworth and Little Hulton on October 11.
An inquest into his death was held on Tuesday, March 24 at Bolton Coroners’ Court.
The inquest heard how Ellis, from Farnworth, had been acting “out of character” in the lead up to his death.
Gemma Adams, Ellis’ mum, said: “He was up and down all the time, and then he started getting a bit angry, then he attacked his dad.”
She said that on the day of his death, he had attacked his brother “out of the blue” leading the police to be called.
Ellis had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in June 2021 and he was prescribed depot anti-psychotic injections twice a month.
He had been diagnosed with “non-organic” psychosis since 2018.
Ellis Redfern (Image: Family) The inquest heard how he had a history of “non-compliance” with medication, including missing a dose the day before he died.
Gemma said: “The police showed up and convinced him to go to the hospital.
“I wanted him to get help.”
They arrived at Royal Bolton Hospital to put him into in-patient care, but were told by staff that no beds were free and they did not know when they would become free.
Gemma said: “He couldn’t wait anymore, we waited and waited and waited.”
Joanne Chester, a mental health practitioner at the hospital, said that Ellis became agitated when he learned about the wait.
She said: “He wanted to leave, he didn’t want to wait for a bed, and there was going to be a wait for a bed unfortunately.
“He was just very agitated, irritated at waiting for a bed.
“It was potentially going to be a couple of days.”
Picture below from left to right, brothers Rhys and Liam, Ellis, his mum Gemma and little sister Aniyah (Image: Supplied) Ms Chester said that Ellis had shown no signs of suicidal thoughts or harming himself.
She said: “There was no expression of hurting himself, I didn’t directly ask, but he was coming into the hospital for help.
“He knew he was unwell.”
Ellis left the hospital to go home before he was brought back by police officers in handcuffs.
One of the officers, PC Joshua Rice, said that Ellis had “no history of domestic incidents” and had just “gone missing a few times”.
He said: “It was like there were two different Ellis’, he would speak to you and have a conversation, then he would ignore you.
“He would make sense one second, and then he wouldn’t make sense the next second.”
PC Rice said that they could have arrested him, but did not think it was in his best interests based on his history.
The officers left Ellis and his mum at the hospital after he seemed to have calmed down.
Gemma said that she went outside with him so he could have a cigarette when he “switched” and ran away.
She said: “When he walked off the security guard said ‘I wish he had attacked me, because then I would have the powers to bring him back’.
“He couldn’t go any further because it was out of his bounds.”
At around 11pm, Kyle Rogers was driving across the motorway bridge when he noticed Ellis in his peripheral vision.
He said: “I saw someone in a grey tracksuit and I just turned around and thought it was a little bit strange.
“I went past and I slowed down, then pulled up next to him and asked him if he was alright.
“He said ‘everyone hates me, I hate everyone, I’m waiting for the movement to take me.’
“As soon as I started speaking to him, I understood that he was quite volatile.
“I did see he was quite irritated and I said to him, ‘mate, talk to me, come on over to the other side’ and I don’t really remember him answering.
“Traffic was building up on the bridge because everyone was noticing what was going on.
“He was just generally angry and irritated but he wasn’t angry at me.”
Two other drivers pulled up to try and help Ellis, and he swore at them, which Gemma said was “out of character”.
Tragically, they could not save him and he jumped from the bridge, the inquest heard.
Mr Rogers said that “it was a deliberate action”.
A toxicology report showed that Ellis had not been under the influence of “medications, alcohol or illicit drugs”.
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Coroner Stephen Teasdale said: “Ellis Redfern died as a consequence of injuries sustained when he jumped from a bridge over a motorway below.
“But at the time, he was having a mental health crisis and his intentions remain unclear.
“I don’t come to the conclusion of suicide for those reasons.
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“The cause of his death was multiple injuries, and that just leaves me to give my condolences to the family and most importantly – thank you for attending.”
Speaking after the inquest, Gemma said: “He was amazing, he didn’t deserve this.
“He had a heart of gold, he was beautiful inside and out – he was just the best.”
Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place to talk for anyone who is struggling to cope.
Call 116 123 (this number is free to call and will not appear on your phone bill), 01204 521200 or email jo@samaritans.org
