Frank Bruno alleges mistreatment during 2003 sectioning
Former heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno has made disturbing allegations about his treatment during his 2003 sectioning at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, Essex, reports BritPanorama.
The 63-year-old sporting icon has accused staff of corruption and has called for their dismissal, painting a troubling picture of patient care at the institution. Bruno spent three weeks at the facility after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
In a revealing interview with the Daily Mail, Bruno claimed hospital workers deliberately mistreated patients and derived pleasure from their suffering. “They’re all corrupted and get kicks out of mistreating the patients,” he stated.
Bruno detailed specific instances of alleged mistreatment during his stay. “They would go out of their way to try and wind you up or distress you,” he noted. “If you’re in a play group or walking around, they would trigger you.” Furthermore, he described how staff would confiscate items to increase patients’ misery, recalling that, “If I was messing around with a football, they would come and take the football away just to make you even more miserable.”
His most damning accusation concerned the overall treatment he received. “They treated me like a slave,” he stated. “It was mentally horrible.” Bruno’s distress on the day of his sectioning, marked by the presence of police and media, compounded his trauma. “It was a very heavy day for me,” he recounted.
The hospital has responded to Bruno’s allegations, with a spokesperson saying, “We’re sorry to hear that this was Mr Bruno’s experience of our services. Since his last contact with services at Goodmayes, we have made several improvements to our inpatient environments, therapeutic work with our patients, and a significant investment in recruitment.”
Bruno’s sectioning followed a period of personal turmoil, including cocaine use, his marriage breakdown, retirement difficulties, and his trainer George Francis’s suicide. His daughter, Nicola, then just 20, signed the committal papers, a revelation that initially strained their relationship, though they have since reconciled.
The psychological scars from his hospitalisation remain profound. “After it was all over, I had to go and see a shrink to try and get over what had happened,” Bruno disclosed. Now approaching his 64th birthday, the former champion maintains a rigorous fitness regime to cope with his trauma, training twice daily and viewing physical exercise as essential to his healing process.
This episode serves as a stark reminder of the complex interplay between mental health care and public scrutiny, where even celebrated figures grapple with the underlying struggles that often remain hidden from view.
