Tutor who took his life ‘was silently struggling’

A “DEDICATED” university tutor took his own life after his increasing workload meant he was “often unable to spend time with his family”, an inquest heard.

Malcolm Anderson, 48, was deputy head of section and a personal tutor in accounting at Cardiff University’s Cardiff Business School.

The father of three was found dead minutes after arriving at work at the university’s Aberconway Building on Colum Drive in Cardiff on February 19.

An inquest at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Anderson had been struggling with his new job role, but had not asked for help with certain issues.

Mr Anderson, who lived in Bristol and was a loyal Swansea City fan, joined the university after graduating in 1991 and progressed through the department after joining as a research assistant.

His colleague Louis Vallis worked with him on timetabling, but he said Mr Anderson was struggling with the allocated time for creating the timetables he was given by the university, and would often do it in his own time.

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Vallis said Mr Anderson’s approach to work was “rigorous” and that he “put 100% into everything that he did”.

He said: “Malcolm complained to management a number of times about the allocation.”

But he said he “received the same response year after year”.

He said Mr Anderson was asked to mark 418 exam papers in a 20-day period but he did not complain about the volume of work.

“He did put a lot of pressure on himself,” Mr Vallis said. “He never approached a line manager for support.

“When I was told of Malcolm’s death I couldn’t take it in.

“He was the most selfless person that I know.”

Mr Anderson’s wife Diane said he would often take exam papers he had to mark to family events.

She said: “He spent many hours with his personal tutees who would email him day and night. He had a huge pile of exam papers to mark and was often unable to spend time with his family.

“His commute was a 120-mile round trip and he would often start early at six or seven and work late.

“He had a dedication to learning and always put people’s needs above his own.

“He won awards for his teaching and won an award every year. He was an extremely sociable man and would always find time to chat to people.

“He was passionate about everything that he did.”

She added: “He was a devoted family man who enjoyed spending time with our family.

“He was always fit and healthy but began to show signs of stress.

“He would always give the very best to everything that he did but was silently struggling.”

Mr Anderson arrived at work at 6.36am on the morning of his death. Police said they believe he went to his office and left two notes – one for his family, and one saying that his workload had finally got to him.

Detective Sergeant Lauren Wells said there were emails on Mr Anderson’s work computer which “refer to work expectations not being manageable and the number of students going through the roof but there’s been cuts”.

Mr Anderson fell through a glass roof and was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where he later died from his injuries.

The inquest heard that in May 2012 business student Max Witkowski died after falling from an open window at the same building.

Mr Vallis said Mr Anderson “explored how he did it” and “spoke about the mechanics” after the student died.

He said he was shocked when he found out that Mr Anderson had died in a similar way.

Coroner Andrew Barkley recorded a conclusion of suicide during yesterday’s inquest.

He said: “There is no suggestion that this is accidental death. I’m satisfied at that time he intended to take his own life.

“There was huge pressure in terms of work and other things.”

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