The mother of a 14-year-old girl fought back tears today as she accused The Priory of 'putting profits before patients' after bosses admitted health and safety breaches over the death of her daughter.
The hospital now faces an unlimited fine that could run into the millions of pounds after Amy El-Keria, who had a history of suicide attempts, died in its care.
Staff shortages and neglect were factors in her death, an inquest previously found, when the teenager hanged herself three months after being admitted to Priory Ticehurst House, near Wadhurst, East Sussex as a 'nervous' inpatient in 2012.
She had been referred by West London Mental Health NHS trust.
A criminal investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive and today the psychiatric hospital indicted a guilty plea - in what is thought to be the first prosecution of its kind.
Speaking outside court, Amy's tearful mother Tania El-Keria said: 'Amy's mental healthcare should never have been put in the hands of a company whose priority was placing profit over her safety.
'Fourteen years we kept her safe but within three months at The Priory she was dead. Six long years it has taken for the Priory to be brought to court.
The 14-year-old (pictured) died in The Priory's care after telling a member of staff she wanted to kill herself
Speaking after The Priory admitted to breaching health and safety laws, Tania El-Keria, Amy's mother, accused them of putting profit before patients
'Every day I have to live with the heartbreak of my child's death. Every day my family have suffer her absence.
'The only thing that has kept me going is to achieve justice for my Amy and to stop other families going through the torture we have endured. Today is a huge step to achieving this.
'This guilty plea is a bitter but long-awaited acknowledgement from the Priory of their criminal failure.'
Despite being initially deemed high-risk, having made several attempts to end her own life, being put on 15-minute observations and forcibly sedated at least twice, Amy was downgraded to medium risk shortly before her death.
On November 12, 2012, Amy told a member of staff she wanted to kill herself and was allowed to go to her room.
That evening, a member of staff at the unit went to check on her and found her door was locked. When they eventually gained entry staff found she had tried to hang herself. She was taken to hospital but Amy died in hospital the following day.
Speaking after the case was referred to crown court where The Priory face a multi-million pound fine, her mother Tania El-Keria said: 'Amy's mental healthcare should never have been put in the hands of a company whose priority was placing profit over her safety.
'14 years we kept her safe but within three months at The Priory she was dead. Six long years it has taken for the Priory to be brought to court.
'Every day I have to live with the heartbreak of my child's death. Every day my family have suffer her absence.
'The only thing that has kept me going is to achieve justice for my Amy and to stop other families going through the torture we have endured. Today is a huge step to achieving this.
'This guilty plea is a bitter but long-awaited acknowledgement from the Priory of their criminal failure.'
Fighting back tears, Mrs El-Keria said: '14 years we kept her safe but within three months at The Priory she was dead. Six long years it has taken for the Priory to be brought to court'
Bosses from the Priory Hospital (pictured, above) admitted breaching health and safety laws at Brighton Magistrates today. The case was sent to crown court today as the magistrates court does not have the power to sentence for the offence
Now The Priory face a multi-million pound fine for health and safety breaches after she died in their care.
Mrs El- Keria said her daughter was a 'beautiful human being' who was 'much-loved'.
She added: 'She had the warmest heart and a great sense of humour. She never liked to see people treated unfairly and would be the first to say that's not right.'
An earlier inquest found a catalogue of errors and neglect at Ticehurst House had contributed to her death.
The inquest heard she was not resuscitated properly by staff, was vomiting profusely and had to be removed from the unit on a body board because the ambulance stretcher would not fit in the lift.
The inquest found staff failed to dial 999 quickly enough, did not call a doctor promptly and were not trained in resuscitation.
It was also found staffing levels were not adequate and a lack of one-to-one time caused or contributed to Amy's death in a 'significant' way.
The inquest jury ruled Amy died of unintended consequences of a deliberate act, contributed to by neglect.
Today bosses from the Priory Group appeared at Brighton Magistrates where they admitted failing to discharge general health and safety duty to a person other than an employee on the day Amy died in October 2012.
Tania El-Keria, mother of Amy, is pictured at Brighton Magistrates' Court
Sarah Le Fevre, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said: 'Amy had a known and recent history of ligature attempts. Not withstanding that she had a scarf in her bedroom and access to ligature points.'
District Judge Teresa Szagun said the magistrates court did not have the power to sentence for the offence and committed the case to crown court.
The case was committed to Lewes Crown Court where the company - which has an annual turnover of £134million - will face an unlimited fine.
The Priory Group also runs the Priory Hospital, Roehampton, which is known for the treatment of celebrities with mental health problems, including addictions and eating disorders.
Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams are among those who have received treatment at the centre.
A Priory Hospital spokesperson said: 'We are truly sorry that this very sad incident occurred and extend our deepest sympathies to Amy's family.
'We continue to invest significantly in improving patient safety at Ticehurst.
'The hospital is making strong progress under new leadership and continues to be rated 'good' in all areas by the CQC.'
The Priory Group, which also runs mental health services as part of a contract with the NHS, is due to be sentenced on February 6 at Lewes Crown Court.
For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See samaritans.org for details.
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News Pictures Tearful mother accuses The Priory of 'putting profits before patients' after daughter took own life
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