Inquest rules fire chief took his own life
A DAD-OF-TWO who was off work with stress took his own life on the day he received a letter informing him his pay was being cut.
Haslingden-born
Steven Anthony Morgan worked for Lancashire
Fire and Rescue Service for 21 years before taking up the position of assistant chief fire officer at Greater Manchester
Fire and Rescue Service in April last year. The 49-year-old went off sick in June with work-related stress and his mental health continued to decline.
In December last year, he received a letter from work stating that his sick pay was being cut. Later that day he was found dead near to Clowbridge
Reservoir. An inquest on Monday, March 28, heard police found a note in Mr Morgan’s pocket.
GP Kelvin Wilkinson, of the Burnley Group Practice, said in a report to the coroner that Mr Morgan had visited the surgery on a number of occasions in the weeks before his tragic death.
“Steven consulted with me on the last two occasions; the primary reason was due to his mental health,” the GP said.
“It was stress-related. “He said on September 11 that he was feeling overwhelmed with things that had been happening at work. He was struggling with some issues he hadn’t spoken about to other people and he had started to see a counsellor.
“On September 27 he talked about stress at work and he said he had thoughts of self-harm and had contacted the crisis team 10 days previously for help. He had started to receive some counselling through work.”
The inquest heard that Mr Morgan was happily married to Kerry, who he lived with in Burnley, and the couple had two teenage daughters. Dr Wilkinson said he was ‘extremely shocked and very saddened’ to hear of Mr Morgan’s death.
Detective Inspector Darren Irving, of Lancashire Constabulary, investigated Mr Morgan’s death and concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.
“On Wednesday, December 15 in 2021 Steven was at home, he had been off work since June and he had received a letter from the fire services informing him his pay would be cut; a letter he said to his wife that he was expecting,” DI Irving said in his report to the coroner.
“At 11am Steven left home saying he was going to get his hair cut and do a few errands but over the remainder of the day the family became concerned when they didn’t hear from him. He was reported missing at 4.16pm.”
The inquest heard that Mr Morgan’s car was spotted near Manchester Road, close to Clowbridge Reservoir. Officers used search dogs, a drone and mountain rescue team volunteers to look for him. His body was found in woodland at 4.49pm.
In a statement Mr Morgan’s wife said: “Steven had been promoted in April and the culmination of the extra responsibility and a prostate condition made Steven unwell.”
Returning a conclusion of suicide, Assistant Coroner Sian Jones described Mr Morgan as a loving dad and husband who had done ‘excellently’ in his work for the fire service.
“Very sadly he had suffered a significant decline in his mental health over a very short period of time,” she added.