Barrister who was traumatised by being sex abuse victim and represented paedophile Vanessa George in court took his own life, coroner rules as family say he was failed by mental health workers

A barrister who represented paedophile Vanessa George and was a victim of child sexual abuse himself took his own life after being ‘failed’ by mental health services.

Nicolas Gerasimidis, 58, was found unresponsive by his wife and son at their Cornwall home on the morning of June 3, 2023.

In 2009 the lawyer represented paedophile Vanessa George, a nursery nurse who filmed and distributed videos of herself sexually abusing 30 children that parents had trusted her to care for.

George was jailed indefinitely in 2009 and was told she would serve a minimum of seven years but she was released in 2019 despite still refusing to hand over a full list of all the children she sexually abused.

Mr Gerasimidis’s son Adam said that his father fell into a ‘mental health abyss’ in early 2022 and ‘was severely let down by the mental health services in Cornwall.’

He quit his job the same year due to struggling with OCD and anxiety sparked by child sexual abuse he experienced when he was eight.

Adam said that his father was told by one mental health worker to practise yoga and breathing exercises to help his deteriorating state, which Adam says was ‘insulting and ridiculous’. 

He said that the treatment his father received at Royal Cornwall Hospital Emergency Department was ‘abysmal’. 

Adam made a formal complaint saying they were ‘treated like filth’ and that the behaviour of one mental health worker was ‘vile’.

Mr Gerasimidis was also told he would face a year-long wait for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and specialist mental health care.

With Mr Gerasimidis’s mental state worsening in May 2023, he visited Berkshire’s psychiatric liaison unit and received a referral to Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

It was agreed that an informal admission should take place, but this didn’t happen due to no hospital beds being available.

Adam said that since his fathers tragic death his family have received apologies from various mental health professionals who said the decision not to section his father cost him his life.

A community mental health nurse involved in Mr Gerasimidis’s care towards the end of his life couldn’t answer why a hospital bed wasn’t available.

The coroner Mr Cox asked: ‘So it’s not unusual not to be able to have immediate access to a bed?’ to which she replied: ‘It’s not unusual, unfortunately.’

Mr Cox later added: ‘This is an impossible situation for you though, isn’t it? Treatment that you want to provide but can’t provide because the resources aren’t available.’

Ms Bennett nodded in agreement.

Doctor Michael Medcalf, a consultant psychiatrist at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, agreed with Mr Cox that the trust’s issues with staffing levels and hospital beds were a long-standing issue.

His son Adam said: ‘In relation to my father’s care, with the exception of a select few professionals, he was treated with a lack of compassion and insight. It’s our comment as a family that we fear suicides will become increasingly more prevalent if extensive and immediate changes are not made by the NHS.’

A moving tribute from Mr Gerasimidis’s family read: ‘He was a family man whose kindness and love and generosity were just a few of his many positive traits, providing his clients with empathy, his time, honesty and ensuring that he provided them with the best representation possible given their individual situations. He was a credit to his community and all those who knew him.’