THE family of a woman who strangled her two-year-old son following a catastrophic mental breakdown spoke last night of their anguish after their pleas for help were ignored.

Doting mother Melanie Ruddell, 40, was taken to hospital after friends became concerned about bizarre allegations she was making.

But despite friends begging doctors to detain her under the Mental Health Act, she discharged herself and hours later killed her son Christy with a nightgown cord at her brother’s house in West Rainton, near Durham City.

Speaking in public for the first time since the tragedy, her brother, Neil Close, said: “Melanie was in the grip of an acute psychotic episode in the weekend leading up to Christy’s death.

“My sister Julie (Stout) and I, and her closest friend Carolanne Beeston spent the entire weekend desperately trying to get help.

“We do feel that we weren’t listened to by several agencies and our opinions were just dismissed. They literally fell on deaf ears.”

He added: “If we were listened to at any point, Christy would be with us now and Melanie would still be his loving mother.”

A seven-day inquest at Sunderland Civic Centre was told that before August 2010, Mrs Ruddell had been in apparently good mental health.

She and Alan Ruddell married in 2005 and the birth of their son and its immediate aftermath appeared to be relatively unproblematic. However in the years following his birth, the marriage came under strain and the pair separated.

Mrs Ruddell took a critical turn for the worse on August 7, 2010, when she contacted the police to make a series of allegations.

Ms Beeston said she had at first believed her friend, but Mrs Ruddell’s behaviour became increasingly bizarre and she became frightened about her emotional state.

Family and friends asked police officers investigating the allegations to have her detained under the Mental Health Act. But the inquest was told the police did not have the authority to do so, as Mrs Ruddell was not found in a public place. And they had no immediate concerns anyway.

In summing up, Sunderland Coroner Derek Winter said: “In fact, the involvement of all the professionals was such that Melanie Ruddell presented as a loving caring mother who would do no harm to her son.

“No one could have predicted that she would have taken the life of Christy, particularly at the home of her brother, where everyone thought that she would be safe.”

Mrs Ruddell was taken to hospital by ambulance under the ruse that doctors were going to conduct a drug test as part of the police investigation.

But accident and emergency specialist, Dr Clement Agbatar – who came under criticism at the inquest for not conducting a full mental health assessment – said when he called for help from an Easington-based crisis team at about 6.50pm, he was told the team would be free between 9.30pm and 10pm Mrs Ruddell, frantic to be with her son, discharged herself and returned to her brother’s house, where she killed Christy in the early hours of the following day.

Speaking of Dr Agbatar’s involvement, Mr Close said after the hearing: “He did diagnose the correct illness and he didn’t act upon it.

“He diagnosed acute pyschosis – that is written on the discharge letter and then he has proceeded to let our Melanie out of hospital and come back to Christy.

“For reasons unknown to us and only known to him, he has done that.”

Mr Close said of his sister’s current condition: “Melanie is as devastated as a woman can be. In terms of her illness, she is making progress, massive progress. But she is a broken woman and will be for the rest of her life.

“We are grateful that the coroner has investigated Christy’s death and that the hospital has already committed itself to instituting new procedures to try to prevent such tragedies in the future.”

He added: “Some women are born to be mothers.

Melanie was one of them. She adored Christy and called him her ‘Mr Beautiful’.

“Today she has to live without him, as we all do. This should never happen again.”