A COURT has heard a moving tribute to a former company boss who took his own life after moving to north Cumbria and developing severe depression.

As a three-hour hearing began at Cockermouth’s Coroner’s court, the wife of 62-year-old Stephen Gowler spoke of his many positive qualities, remembering him as a compassionate and caring husband and father.

“He was a man of unbounded kindness, compassion and gentleness,” Caroline Gowler told the court. “He was calm, intelligent, self-assured and knowledgeable.

“He could see the bigger picture and was always at the centre of his family; their happiness, security and success meant everything to him.”

A lifelong supporter of West Ham, Mr Gowler particularly loved football and cricket as well as music – particularly jazz. He retired five years ago after a successful career which saw him rise to senior positions with several companies.

The hearing heard detailed evidence of how in the weeks leading up to Mr Gowler’s death at his home in Walton village, near Brampton, last January, he had been increasingly affected by severe depression.

His wife found him dead in a bedroom at 8.45am on January 7. They had moved to Walton from their previous home in Oxfordshire but quickly discovered there were issues with the new house in Cumbria.

The hearing heard that Mr Gowler became so depressed that he eventually went with his wife to the A&E Department of The Cumberland Infirmary in mid-October last year but they were told to contact their GP.

Over the weeks that followed, he had contact with various medical professionals, including GPs but it was almost all over the phone, his wife told the hearing. She felt that was part of what went wrong.

In November, while the family were visiting family in Norfolk Mr Gowler was discharged from the care of the community crisis team – but neither he nor his wife were told about it until after it happened.

His mental health continued to cause concern during December and the crisis team were again involved in his care. With concern for his safety growing, a risk assessment on January 4 concluded that he was at 'significant risk' of suicide.

Asked about the prospect of in-patient care and why it was not pursued, a consultant psychatrist told the inquest that psychiatric beds within the NHS are now at 'an incredible premium.'

"Unfortunately, quite commonly, locally and regionally and nationally, there are no mental health beds available. There are times within the Trust when we have a significant need for beds."

Concluding that Mr Gowler took his own life, Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw noted that it must have been a big shock to him and his wife to learn of his discharge from the crisis team's care in November.

That should be a learning point for the NHS Trust involved, he said.

But Dr Shaw said in this case, that had not made a great difference because he was soon back under that team’s care. “It is not my position to criticise clinical decisions,” he said.

“Ultimately, this ended in tragedy and it must have been a horrific experience that day for Caroline [and their son].”

The coroner added: “I do think the Trust will have learned something from this and I hope it will be taken forward in the teaching of others.”

The Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust held a serious incident review after the tragedy in an effort to assess any learning points and an official from Trust offered to meet with Mrs Gowler after the hearing to hear from her directly about her concerns.

If you feel that you are at risk of self-harm, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123.

YOU CAN ALSO SEEK HELP FROM:

* Papyrus’s HOPELINEUK offers confidential support and advice to children and young people under 35 experiencing suicidal thoughts or to anyone concerned about a young person. Call: 0800 068 4141; or text: 07860 039 967; or email: pat@papyrus-uk.org

* The Every Life Matters suicide awareness training is done online by zoom and lasts 60 minutes. If your group is interested interested call Every Life Matters on 07908 537541 or contact them at: info@every-life-matters.org.uk

* The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – for men is on 0800 58 58 58, from 5pm to midnight every day.