Man found dead after leaving unit on Christmas Eve

A MAN was granted leave from a mental health unit on Christmas Eve and then two weeks later, his body was found by police officers in woodland in the Litchard area of Bridgend.

- BRYANA FRANCIS AND HOLLY MORGAN

Leon Michael Shaw, 43, was found on January 4, 2024, after being granted authorised leave from Caswell Clinic, a mental health unit at Glanrhyd Hospital in Bridgend, on Christmas Eve. Mr Shaw was a patient at the clinic after having been detained via a hospital order from the courts.

In December 2022, Mr Shaw was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder which carried a risk of self-harm. On Monday, December 1, 2025 an inquest reopened into his death. Pontypridd Coroner's Court heard how on December 23, 2023, the day before Mr Shaw disappeared, he had a phone call with his father, who is now known as Ms Polly Parker, where they “spoke about Christmas presents”.

"He seemed happy. I just can't understand what changed," said Ms Parker in a statement read to the court by Coroner Kerrie Burge.

On December 24, the day Mr Shaw went missing, his father noticed a number of missed calls from him, the court heard. When Ms Parker managed to get through to her son in the evening, she said he was "incoherent" on the phone and that he couldn't make any sense of what Mr Shaw was saying. That was the last conversation he ever had with his son. Mr Shaw was known to mental health services from age 17.