Stroud News
Grief stricken father killed himself after teenage son's suicide following homophobic taunts
9:55am Wednesday 22nd February 2012
HEARTBROKEN father Roger Crouch hanged himself after becoming 'overwhelmed by grief' over the suicide of his 15-year-old-son, an inquest found.
The 55-year-old former county director of children’s services at Gloucestershire County Council was found hanging in his garage by his wife Paola at their home in Gretton, near Winchcombe on November 28 last year.
Earlier in the evening he had left a message on Facebook reading “Au Revoir, so long - or maybe A Bientot”.
The inquest at Gloucester Coroner’s Court on Tursday heard that Mr Crouch had twice attempted to take his own life since his son Dominic jumped from a roof near his Cheltenham school in May 2010 after being victim of taunts about his sexuality.
In a statement from Mrs Crouch read by the court clerk, the inquest heard that, on the evening of November 28 last year, she had gone to bed early while her husband stayed downstairs.
“The death of our son so affected Roger that he went into deep moods,” she said. “On that day he was in such a mood.”
She added she became concerned when she went downstairs for a glass of water and saw the computer was still on, but her husband was nowhere to be seen.
“I knew when I saw the message something had happened,” she added.
“I went into the garage and I saw him – at first I though he was just looking at something in the garage but then I realised his feet were free.”
Mrs Crouch described how she had called for help from neighbours, who cut Mr Crouch free and tried to revive him, but with no success.
Mr Crouch, who was also formerly clerk of Stow-on-the-Wold town council, had campaigned against homophobic bullying since the death of his son, and was last year named Hero of the Year by the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall.
Mrs Crouch paid tribute to her husband’s work, saying: “Roger will be sadly missed but he will leave a legacy of friendship and his good work since Dominic’s death.
“There was so much death in his life – he lost his sister to brain cancer not long before Dominic, and his nephew in Iraq in July, as well as loosing his mother when he was very young.”
In a report from Mr Crouch’s doctor, the inquest heard that he had taken an overdose of painkillers just weeks after the death of his son, in what his GP described as “a serious attempt to take his own life.”
Soon after, he had been detained at a motorway service station while travelling to the Lake District to scatter his son’s ashes by police, who found sharp implements in his car which Mr Crouch admitted could be used to hurt himself with.
A toxicology report into Mr Crouch’s blood and urine found he was nearly twice the legal drink-drive limit at the time of his death, although no drugs were found in his bloodstream Summing up the evidence, deputy Gloucestershire coroner David Dooley said Mr Crouch had suffered “what most parents would consider the worst loss imaginable.”
“He channelled all his energies into campaigning on behalf of his son and other children who have been victims of bullying but was eventually overwhelmed by grief for his son,” he added.
Mrs Crouch agreed with Mr Dooley’s assessment, saying: “I think you could call it a broken heart.”
Recording a verdict of suicide, Mr Dooley said he was satisfied that Mr Crouch’s death was not an accident.
“It seems to me that what Mr Crouch did was a very deliberate act, and that he intended that act to lead to his death,” he said.
“In my view, suicide seems to be an appropriate verdict