After reportedly having to wait weeks for his Universal Credit payments, a father of three who was unmarried and with only £4.61 in his possession took his own life.
The 34-year-old Phillip Herron was unemployed, trying to pay off £20,000 in debt while still providing for his family’s clothing and food.
He applied for government assistance, but the month-long wait was the “final nail in his coffin,” driving him deeper into debt and hopelessness.
The Coalition Government introduced Universal Credit in 2013 with the intention of replacing multiple benefits with a single one.
However, because it is paid monthly in arrears, there is typically a five-week delay for the first payment. On March 18, just before he passed away, Mr. Herron posted a photo of himself sobbing in his car on a country drive to social media.
In his suicide letter, he expressed his belief that his family would be better off without him, according to his mother, Sheena Derbyshire, 54.
Since Mr. Herron had kept his financial problems a secret from everyone, it was up to his mother to piece together the circumstances behind his suicide.
“His death came as a complete shock,” she stated in a Mirror interview, “I couldn’t understand why he’d do this”.
Father Christmas “had not come” last year due to his debt spiraling out of control, and Ms. Derbyshire even discovered a secret eviction notice from Bernicia Homes in his home.
Mr. Herron suffered financially after quitting his job as a manufacturing worker to care for his younger children.
Upon successfully deciphering her son’s phone password, Ms. Derbyshire discovered hundreds of conversations that demonstrated the shift in her son’s demeanor in the months preceding his death.
Mr. Herron used to be a very reserved man, but in his last phone calls, he would often yell. “He loved his kids but he started shouting at them. And you can hear him sobbing in calls. I heard him talking about suicide to other people.
“Wish he’d told us how he was feeling but we never knew.
“Listening to those last few months of calls I started asking myself, “Who is this person?” He’d changed so much so very quickly.” wonder, “Who is this person?”
Since her son’s death, Ms. Derbyshire has been overcome with remorse, and she claims that her grandchildren are having difficulty processing it.
“His youngest daughter is totally lost,” she uttered. “She misses her dad so much.”
In her search for evidence, Ms. Derbyshire intends to shine light on Universal Credit’s shortcomings during Mr. Herron’s inquest in Sacriston, County Durham.
“Our thoughts are with Mr. Herron’s family,” a Department of Work and Pensions official said to the Mirror last night.
“Suicide is a very complex issue, so it would be wrong to link it solely to someone’s benefit claim.
“We are committed to safeguarding vulnerable claimants and keep guidance under constant review to provide the highest standard of protection.”
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