‘Shy, quiet’ man who escaped Taliban twice took his own life
A ‘shy and quiet’ man who escaped the Taliban twice in Afghanistan took his own life on the A27 last year, an inquest ruled.
On August 31 last year, police closed the A27 westbound between Eastern Road and the Hilsea roundabout, after an incident which took the life of Southsea man Reshad Khan, 29.
An inquest into his death, held at Portsmouth Coroner’s Court last Thursday, found that Mr Khan entered the road ‘deliberately’ after years of suffering anxiety, depression and post-traumaticstressdisorder (PTSD).
Born in Afghanistan, Mr Khan moved to Portsmouth when he was 13 years old in a bid to escape the Taliban conflict. Living with his mother and brother, he studied at Miltoncross Academy and later obtained his GCSEs while at college.
The inquest heard that Mr Khan struggled with his mentalhealth–whichworsenedafterreturningtoAfghanistanin 2021toreunitewithhiswifeLima,onlytofleetheTalibanonce again when Kabul was seized.
Written evidence from his family described him as someone who had seen ‘a huge amount of trauma’ and explained that his mental health continued to deteriorate to the point where he would not even leave their house in Southsea.
Through the Lighthouse GroupPractice,hewasreferred to Talking Change and crisis management teams, but they considered Mr Khan to be of ‘lowrisk’tohimselfandothers.
On the evening of August 31, Mr Khan was seen walking throughHilsea,beforewalking on to the A27 across the hard shoulderand‘diving’infrontof a Mercedes-Benz large goods vehicle (LGV).
MollyDeacon,whowasdrivingbehindtheLGV,gaveawritten submission to the court.
She said: ‘I was on my way back from an appointment in Waterlooville,andwasslowing down to come off at Cosham.
‘A white, medium-sized van was about a car and a half in front of me.
‘All I remember is seeing a white trainer come out of nowhere – they were running so fast so I can only imagine they had come through the bushes, andthenruninfrontofthevan.
‘We pulled over but I could not face seeing what was going on.’
A post-mortem also found noalcoholorillegalsubstances inMrKhan’ssystem.Attheend of the inquest, senior coroner ChristopherWilkinsonrecorded a conclusion of suicide.