Cricketer ‘sorely missed’ after taking own life

A POPULAR and well-respected member of Binfield Cricket Club took his own life after suffering years of depression, an inquest has heard.

Ian Alan Rigby, aged 60, of Forest Road, Binfield, died at his home on March 27 from a single stab wound to the chest.

Mr Rigby’s partner of 17 years, Marian Hall said that he was sorely missed within the local community.

Speaking after his inquest at Reading Town Hall on Thursday, August 31, Ms Hall said: “He was very well-liked, very wellrespected, he was a very generous man who would go out of his way to help people.

“He is greatly missed by everybody in the village, it is a great loss, and a great tragedy.”

Mr Rigby had been an active member of Binfield Cricket Club, earning numerous awards during his time at the club, and becoming an honorary life member.

Following his death, the club raised £2,196 for the mental health charity Mind, in memory of Mr Rigby, who they fondly called Rigs.

In a message on the club’s fundraising page, the club wrote: “RIP Rigs, you truly were a legend, and we will never forget you.”

The inquest, held by assistant coroner Emma Jones, heard how Mr Rigby had moved into Ms Hall’s home in Forest Road in 2000 with his two sons, Philip and Steven.

Ms Hall told the inquest that the couple had a good relationship, but Mr Rigby’s ‘ excessive drinking’ had caused the relationship to break down, and by January this year, the couple were sleeping in separate bedrooms.

The inquest heard how the couple’s problems led Mr Rigby to give up drinking, and Ms Hall confirmed that relations had improved in the weeks leading up to his death.

However, Mr Rigby’s son, Steven suggested that by giving up drinking, his father had also given up a large portion of his social life, which he believed led him to become isolated and depressed.

The inquest heard how Mr Rigby had been first diagnosed with depression in 2004, and was prescribed the antidepressant Sertraline in January 2017 following the death of his father and the breakdown of his relationship. He was offered cognitive behavioural therapy, but Mr Rigby declined. He later referred himself to Talking Therapies, which Ms Hall confirmed that he engaged with in the weeks before his death.

The therapist he spoke with, Shannon Gardener, said in a statement that Mr Rigby spoke of suffering from a low mood, but never indicated plans to end his life and was not considered to be a high risk. She suggested he speak to the relationship counselling service Relate, but as he had not mentioned his excessive drinking during his sessions, she did not refer him for any further treatment for this.

Looking through Mr Rigby’s medical history, Ms Jones noted that on Wednesday, March 22 Mr Rigby’s GP had changed his medication to Mirtazapine, another antidepressant, and Zopiclone to help him sleep, as he felt that he was not seeing any benefit of being on Sertraline.

Ms Jones said research showed that Mirtazapine was often prescribed to patients diagnosed with depression, but its side effects were less extreme than Sertraline.

However, she noted that the drug can take several weeks to take effect, so by the time of Mr Rigby’s death on March 27, it would not have had enough time to show an improvement to his mood.

Reading out a statement made by Ms Hall shortly after Mr Rigby’s death, Ms Jones noted that Ms Hall had left the couple’s home on Saturday, March 25 to visit her mother in Lincoln. She had called Mr Rigby that evening and said he sounded ‘lacklustre’ and that it was difficult to get a conversation from him, but this was not unusual. An answerphone message from Mr Rigby’s mother was left at 7.26pm on Sunday, thanking him for a Mothers’ Day card, but the message had not been listened to.

Mr Rigby’s son, Steven, said that he had visited the house at around 5.10pm on Monday, March 27 to drop off a Mothers’ Day card for Ms Hall. He said he noticed the blinds were all drawn, which was strange, but as he was on his way to work he didn’t think very much of it.

When Ms Hall returned home around 6.50pm, she noticed that the kitchen blinds were drawn and the outside light was on, which was not how she’d left it. She went into the house and noticed that the alarm had not been set, suggesting Mr Rigby was still at home. She heard the television was on in the living room, and when she went to investigate she found Mr Rigby lying face down in a pool of blood. She said she shouted at him but he was unresponsive, and when she checked for a pulse, she found no signs of life. She called the emergency services who attended the scene, but declared Mr Rigby dead shortly after 7pm.

Thames Valley Police officers were called to investigate, but could find no signs of forced entry, and no signs of a struggle.

A post-mortem showed that Mr Rigby had died from a single stab wound to the chest and the subsequent loss of blood. A toxicology report showed less than 10mg of alcohol in his blood, and no traces of his antidepressant medication.

Isaac Esheyigba, a mental health practitioner from Berkshire Healthcare Trust, compiled an independent report into Mr Rigby’s death. He said that Ms Gardener had shown good practice when dealing with Mr Rigby, and commended her for referring him to Relate to discuss his relationship problems. He did comment, however, that GP notes detailing Mr Rigby’s excessive drinking should have been related to Talking Therapies, and steps had been taken to rectify this.

Summing up the proceedings, Ms Jones said: “I have to be satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that he intended to take his own life.”

The coroner concluded that Mr Rigby took his own life.