Bereaved parents describe their loss at Lampard Inquiry

As the first commemorative statements of the inquiry were heard, Baroness Lampard said she wanted to express “how grateful I am to everyone who has shared an account of a person who died and the impact of that person’s death”.

“I find these accounts deeply moving and affecting,” she said, adding they gave a “very necessary perspective on the seriousness and tragedy of the matters we’re dealing with”.

She assured the inquiry she had read all the accounts provided and “looked at every photograph and viewed every video in its entirety”.

Patrick Brennan, giving the first commemorative statement, said his son Liam had been a talented chef who “enjoyed the creativity and camaraderie of the kitchen”.

A photograph of Liam was displayed on screens around the inquiry venue in Chelmsford as Mr Brennan sipped from a glass of water and spoke about his son.

Mr Brennan said his son, who died four days after turning 29, had been a Chelsea fan and “everyone who met him remembered him fondly”.

Mr Brennan described an “almost overwhelming sense of failure that you’ve outlived your child or sibling” and told of the “corporate defensiveness” of mental health services.

“We were desperate for help, which is why we turned to the NHS for the answers we couldn’t find ourselves,” he said.

Mr Brennan added that “at family events, there’s always someone missing”.