It took a fifth overdose of his mother's tranquilisers before 15-year-old Joe received the mental health services he desperately needed.
After being taken to accident and emergency, he was transferred to Southampton behaviour resource service's residential unit once he had physically recovered.
Joe had a history of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and was known to misuse amphetamines and sell cannabis. When he was 11, he was often left in charge of his younger siblings while his mother, a sex worker, went out for the night. He had also been repeatedly excluded from a pupil referral unit for aggression and was facing charges of assault and burglary.
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