Bride’s father waited until day after his girl’s wedding before suicide
A REtiRED police inspector jumped to his death hours after ‘a perfect day’ watching his daughter get married.
Grant Ardern, 60, may have been planning his death for weeks, but decided to wait until he saw daughter india tie the knot.
the morning after the celebration, the father of three left the family home at 6am – still dressed in his pyjamas – and drove to the nearby thelwall Viaduct, an inquest heard.
A motorist driving along the M6 spotted him fall 100ft off the parapet.
hours before his death on April 30, Mr Ardern, who suffered from bouts of anxiety, said that the wedding had been ‘a perfect day’ and told his wife Deborah how much he loved her and their children.
Mrs Ardern, 56, a civilian co-ordinator for Cheshire Police, said: ‘he was so anxious because he wanted to do it but didn’t want to upset us before the wedding.
‘that’s why i think that he was so anxious and catatonic and mood shifting towards the end. the night we had come home from the wedding he was so calm and thinking back, i believe he thought he was ready to go.
‘he told me how much of a good time he had had at the wedding, how much he loved the children and how much he loved me and that it had been a perfect day. it’s clear to me now that he was saying goodbye.’
it is believed that in the run up to his death last April, Mr Ardern, a community safety manager from Warrington, Cheshire, had been suffering from work-related anxiety which had worsened because he had to speak at a public event.
his wife added: ‘he was getting more anxious in the months before Christmas and he was both depressed and anxious. he decided to go back to the doctor quite a few times in the last six months over small matters that were brought on by the anxiety.
‘he decided that he needed to be on medication again – but medication just made him worse this time.
‘Originally he told me he felt suicidal on the 8th or 9th of April and he said he thought it would be better if he was dead already. i can only speculate now but i think he was absolutely determined to do what he did, but he was desperate for no one to know about it.
‘i was very shocked and upset when he said it to me the first time. After a long chat he said that he would never do anything to upset me or upset the children by doing that sort of thing.
‘With the benefit of hindsight now i think he must have been clear in his mind what he was going to do. At the time i thought that he wouldn’t do that, but now it is clear what he wanted. i think he wanted to do it earlier but he was hanging on for the wedding.’
Mr Ardern was in policing for 30 years before leaving in 2008 and had worked for Cheshire Police. in recent years, he had advised organisations around the world on crimefighting schemes.
the inquest heard that Mr Ardern had attended Warrington hospital with his son on April 27 complaining of anxiety.
Nurse Alex McKennaney told the Warrington hearing: ‘he said that he had no intention for suicide or self-harm. he confirmed that he was having anxieties about work.’
Recording a conclusion of suicide, Coroner Claire Walsh said: ‘he made suggestions to his wife and son that he was suicidal but told health professionals that he didn’t have any suicidal or self-harm intentions.
‘Mrs Ardern believes that he was absolutely determined to do what he did but he was desperate for others and his family to not know. i am satisfied that he knew what he was doing.’ ÷to contact the Samaritans, call 116 123 or visit the website www.samaritans.org
‘Determined to do what he did’