ARMY VETERAN JUMPED FROM DOVER CLIFFS
RESCUE TEAMS ALSO FOUND BODIES OF TWINS WHILE SEARCHING FOR ARMY VETERAN
A Gulf War veteran from Radcliffe took his own life by jumping from the White Cliffs of Dover, an inquest heard. Scott Enion (pictured), 45, who served in the British Army from 1988 to 1996, was discovered dead on New Year’s Day. He earlier claimed he considered suicide after being bullied in the forces due to his racial background and also felt he suffered from Gulf War syndrome.
A GULF War veteran from Radcliffe took his own life by jumping from the White Cliffs of Dover, an inquest heard.
Scott Enion, 45, who served in the British Army from 1988 to 1996, was discovered dead on New Year’s Day. He earlier claimed he considered suicide after being bullied in the forces due to his racial background and also felt he suffered from Gulf War syndrome.
During the search for Mr Enion in Dover, police also discovered the bodies of Cheshire twins Muriel and Bernard Burgess.
The 59-year-old siblings had struggled to come to terms with their parents’ deaths, particularly their mother’s in 2014, the inquest heard. Their bodies were found with rucksacks containing the ashes of both parents.
The pair, from Elton, fell more than 200ft in an area known as Langdon Cliffs in Dover, and were found by rescue teams searching for Mr Enion, whose body was also recovered.
In the case of Mr Enion, of Waltham Gardens, senior coroner Patricia Harding recorded a conclusion of suicide after hearing that CCTV footage captured a figure jumping from the cliffs.
The inquest heard Mr Enion was deployed to the Gulf during the first conflict in January 1991.
Det Sgt Stuart Ward, of Kent Police, said: “He had spoken in the past that he had been bullied in the Army due to his racial background and had considered suicide.” He also felt he suffered from Gulf War Syndrome, which culminated in health problems, including fatigue and headaches, and had witnessed comrades killed after coming under friendly fire.
However, his suicidal thoughts were described as ‘historical’ and he was last seen by his GP last October for a headache. No relatives for either Mr Enion or the Burgess twins attended the inquest.
In the case of the twins, one rucksack recovered near them contained ashes with their mother’s name, and it emerged a second rucksack had their father’s ashes inside.
An inquest in Maidstone into all three deaths heard Mr and Miss Burgess were recluses who lived together in a static caravan and were single and had no children.
Det Sgt Ward said their late parents were also called Bernard and Muriel. Mr Burgess senior died in 1984 and his wife 30 years later.
Mrs Harding said last September the twins attended a consultation with their GP amid reports of having “low mood” since their mother’s death.
Recording an open conclusion for both Mr and Miss Burgess, Mrs Harding said: “They were struggling to come to terms with the death of their parents, particularly the death of their mother in 2014.
“The evidence doesn’t disclose to the required standard of proof whether there was an intention by them to take their own lives or was indeed simply a tragic accident.”