Disabled Man Killed Himself Because His Sickness Benefits Were Axed, Coroner Rules
Timothy Salter, aged 53 from Kinver in South Staffordshire, hung himself after his sickness benefitswere stopped, despite being partially sighted and suffering from severemental health problems, a coroner has ruled.
Mr Slater, an agoraphobic who had previously worked as asales manager before becoming ill, fell into rent arrears after being found 'Fit For Work' following a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and was later found hanged just days before he was due to be evicted from his home.
Sister Linda Cooksey, who discovered her brother's body, said that having his sickness benefits stopped must have pushed him "over the edge", and that "he must have felt so worthless and that life wasn't worth living."
Mrs Cooksey added that she never thought changes to the benefits system, designed to help more unemployed sick and disabled people take steps toward employment, would ever have affected her brother.
Mr Salter, who was a proud man who "never asked for help", failed to inform his family that he was facing eviction. It wasn't until after his death that relatives discovered a repossessionorder from South Staffordshire Housing Association and learnt of the dire situation Mr Salter was in.
An inquest into his death found that: "A major factor in his death was that his state benefits had been greatly reduced leaving him almost destitute and with threatened repossession of his home".
A spokesperson for South Staffordshire Housing Association told Stourbridge News:
"We were very sad to hear of the death of Timothy Salter and have met members of his family to extend our sympathy and offer them support.
"Cuts to benefits are causing distress very widely, including to many of our customers.
"We work very hard to avoid getting to the stage of seeking possession of any of our properties by calling, visiting and writing to customers who we believe are struggling with their finances to offer them advice and support.
"Offers were made to Mr Salter on a number of occasions between July and September.
We always try our best to talk to customers in difficulties to offer help and advice but if they do not respond it is difficult for us to provide the practical support that could help them."
Mr Salter's family wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron who expressed his "sincerest condolences" and promised to pass the details of the case onto the DWP. In reply to the letter Mr Cameron said:
"This is a truly awful situation. The Government takes cases like this very seriously indeed. We are doing our best to ensure that when people enter the workplace they are given the support they need and not left in limbo.
"However it is equally important to ensure people are not mistakenly identified as being fit for work when they are not."
A spokesperson for the DWP said: "Whenever people's benefits change we do our best to ensure the right support is available to help them through the transition as we know this can be a difficult time."