‘A Girl Called Nonita’: Sky News airs documentary on young care leavers and Nonita Grabovsykte’s inquest
14 November 2025
Garden Court North’s Ciara Bartlam (left) speaks to Sky News’ Nick Martin as part of Nonita’s documentary. Credit: Alex Blair / Garden Court North Chambers.
At 2pm tomorrow (15 November 2025), Sky News will air ‘A Girl Called Nonita’, a powerful and moving documentary which scrutinises the lack of support for young adult care leavers following their 18th birthday.
‘A Girl Called Nonita’ centres on the life, death and inquest of 18-year-old Nonita Grabovskyte, who tragically took her own life on 28 December 2023, two weeks after turning 18.
Garden Court North’s Ciara Bartlam represented INQUEST and Article 39 pro bono at the inquest into Nonita’s death.
The documentary focuses on the coroner’s conclusion that a severe absence of coordinated arrangements for an “extremely vulnerable” child in care approaching adulthood contributed to her self-inflicted death. There were serious failings by Nonita’s corporate parent and other agencies involved in her care.
Many of these agencies failed to act on glaring signs of Nonita’s suicidal ideation.
“Not only had Nonita told people how she would take her life, but also when, and in what circumstances”, Ciara told Sky News’ Nick Martin during the documentary. “To read that in black and white, in every single care plan, was quite something.”
Or, as Nonita’s accommodation manager noted at a professionals’ meeting on 6 July 2023, “99% of the time Nonita is thinking about self-harm”.
Despite extensive discussion of the psychological support Nonita would continue to need following her 18th birthday at multi-agency professionals’ meetings, nothing was provided.
When discharged from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), no referral is made to adult services, nor is any education or training planned, nor is Nonita told where she will live after turning 18.
“We end up with a situation where everybody discharges [Nonita]. By the time she turns 18 there’s nothing there”, Ciara said.
When asked by Nick Martin what the consequences of that are, Ciara replies: “The consequences of somebody in Nonita’s position who doesn’t otherwise have any autism-informed care or any other input is that she has no-one to talk to”.
A fatal hole in Britain’s care system
In the last year, 91 care leavers died aged between 16 to 25 – almost two deaths per week.
The coroner’s finding that the gap in mental health provisions between child and adult care contributed to Nonita’s death cannot be overstated in its importance.
When questioned by Nick Martin, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Nonita was seriously failed on so many levels by so many people”.
Phillipson promised better support for children in care or leaving care through her ‘Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill’, which has passed through the House of Commons and is currently at the report stage in the House of Lords. The Education Secretary also said that she would be willing to consider a change in the law that requires local authority participation at inquests where they are the person’s corporate parent.
In its closing scenes, the documentary includes a clip from actor and campaigner Samantha Morton’s BAFTA acceptance speech in 2024, which she dedicated to “every child in care today, or who’s been in care, or who’s suffering, or who didn’t survive”.
The documentary finishes with a moving tribute from Ciara. “If it hadn’t have been for Katharine Bryson [Nonita’s Independent Visitor from Action for Children], nobody would ever know about Nonita”, she concluded.
“Nonita will not be the only young person who lives an invisible life, and that dies an invisible death. That shouldn’t be something – it cannot be something – that we can stand for as a society. Care leavers deserve so much more than that. Nonita did. She was beautiful, she was bright, she had so much potential. And all of that was lost.”
‘A Girl Called Nonita’ will air on Sky News at 2pm tomorrow (15 November 2025). It is available to watch on YouTube.
If you are affected by the issues in this release, Samaritans are available 24/7. Call 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org.
Ciara was instructed by Serena Fassò and Blodina Rakovica at Wilson Solicitors, who also acted pro bono. Jesse Nicholls of Matrix played an instrumental role in the application for Interested Person status.
Additional media
Sky News – A Girl Called Nonita
Sky News – Final days of girl in care – the story authorities did not want you to know about
Sky News – Why Nonita’s story could be a turning point for children in care
Barnet Post – Barnet Council denies cover up after death of young woman who had been in its care
Garden Court North Chambers – Serious failings by corporate parent and other agencies contributed to Nonita Grabovskyte’s death, inquest finds
For further information, please contact Alex Blair, Communications Manager at Garden Court North Chambers: ablair@gcnchambers.co.uk
