My suicide bid over £50m bank fraud, by TV’s Noel
TV’S Noel Edmonds has revealed he came close to taking his life after falling victim to a £50million financial fraud.
Deal Or No Deal host Edmonds, 68, said he had previously believed that suicide was a “selfish and cowardly” act.
However, he said his experience has now left him with a deeper understanding of the pressures that drive people to despair as well as a determination to fight on for swifter compensation for himself and other fraud victims.
He said he was taken “to the brink of emotional annihilation” after a group of corrupt financiers helped destroy his former business, Unique Group.
In January 2005 he was in such anguish that he attempted suicide.
Although he has not revealed where or how he tried to kill himself, he said his life was saved by Devon paramedics and support he received from professionals at the Priory Hospital in Bristol.
Edmonds said: “Until these criminals took me to the brink of emotional annihilation, I had always felt those who opt out by taking their own lives were selfish and cowardly.
“But having been cast into that bottomless dark space, devoid of logic and reason, I now have a much deeper understanding of life without hope.
“I seek no sympathy and feel no shame in admitting that I attempted to end the overwhelming mental pain which had consumed my whole being.” Since then the presenter has donated generously to the Samaritans and has given unofficial counselling to others facing similar situations.
He said: “Please be kind, don’t be judgmental. Life without hope is no life.”
The former financiers, who worked for HBOS, were jailed earlier this year for carrying out a £245million loans scam.
The deception destroyed several businesses, including Edmonds’s.
Their profits were squandered on high-end prostitutes and luxury holidays.
Lloyds, which rescued HBOS during the financial crisis, said in April it would begin making compensation offers to fraud victims from a £100million pot. It said payments were expected to begin this month.
Edmonds has said he wants the process to be speeded up after launching a £50million-plus compensation claim against the lender.
Lloyds has said its compensation programme is “on track” and the lender has started making payments to some of those affected.
A spokesman said: “Our customers’ safety is of paramount importance to us.
“We have a clear policy that if a customer says they are considering taking their own life then we must take the statement seriously and take action to protect them.”