Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Troubled dad killed himself because he feared he might ‘do a Hungerford’
Man hanged after hol row with partner
A FATHER obsessed by the Hungerford massacre killed himself because he feared he would harm his own children, an inquest heard.
Adam Ludlow, 37, took his own life using a plastic bag in an act of “sacrificial love”, according to his relatives.
They said in a statement he had heard internal voices focused on “death, violence and the harming of his children and family”.
His mum Angela told coroner Emma Jones how mentally ill Adam was fixated on the 1987 atrocity in Hungerford, Berks, where Michael Ryan shot dead 16 people and then himself. Referring to one conversation about the gunman, she recalled: “He said to me, ‘He killed his mother first’. I told him, ‘You are not going to kill me.’”
The massacre happened 25 miles from Adam’s home in Tilehurst and involved a friend of his dad, according to Angela. She said the family also believed he was let down by the medical team that treated him.
His condition got to the point where he harmed himself and could not be left alone. He took his own life on September 14.
The inquest in Reading was adjourned until next month as his family had not seen details of some of the evidence.
Their statement said: “Adam took his own life as he feared he was out of control.
“It was an act of sacrificial love, giving his own life, so his family would be safe.” A MAN was found hanged after a row with his girlfriend during a make-orbreak holiday in the Canary Islands, an inquest heard.
Nick Crook went back to their Fuerteventura hotel room after Vanessa Grant said she was leaving him.
The 47-year-old from Bacup, Lancs, left the door open – it is thought so he would be found in time to be saved last May.
But he was dead when Miss Grant returned.
She said: “He told me he was going to hang himself but I didn’t take it seriously.”
The Burnley inquest was told he had a history of using overdoses to gain attention. Coroner Richard Taylor gave a conclusion of death by hanging.