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Grieving mum who ‘experienced visions’ after her son’s death dies in same place
‘Her family has suffered enough tragedy for 100 lifetimes’
A grieving mum who ‘experienced visions’ after her son’s death also died in the same place just weeks later.
A devastated family has suffered two losses after a mother who lost her teenage son, after he took his own life, was found dead in the same place he was just two weeks later.
Ethan Hardman’s body was found in a wooded area of Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire, on October 14th last year.
The talented footballer took his own life a few months after celebrating his 16th birthday. His mother, Camille Hardman, told family she ‘no longer felt able to survive without’ him.
Days after Ethan’s death, Camille was admitted to a mental health unit after her family raised the alarm about her expressing suicidal thoughts.
As reported by Lancs Live, an inquest heard she was discharged in order to allow her to attend his funeral, on November 9th. But as the weeks went on, she continued to voice her intention to end her life.
Despite ongoing support from her partner Richard Benson, as well as her siblings and input from the community mental health team, Camille ‘no longer felt able to survive without Ethan’ and began to experience visions of his body being found.
On December 8th, just six weeks after Ethan’s death, Camille walked to the spot where he had died and took her own life, aged 45.
An inquest held on Monday, May 22nd, at Preston Coroner’s Court, extracts from a statement by Camille’s partner Richard described how her mental health had been ‘extremely fragile’ after Ethan’s death.
He persuaded Camille to stay at his home in Leeds after the funeral but police were called when she left his house and booked herself into a hotel for three days.
Officers from West Yorkshire Police visited Camille at the hotel but only spoke to her through the door. Camille’s family said that had they gone inside the room they would have seen items purchased in order to end her life.
Area Coroner Kate Bisset described the force’s actions as ‘appalling’ and also criticised them for failing to inform Richard of Camille’s death when asked to do so by Lancashire Constabulary.
On the morning of December 8th, after Camille moved back to her home in Walton-le-Dale, Tony Gardener was walking his dog before heading to work when he came across her sitting on the footpath in a wooded area.
In a statement he later told police: “I said ‘good morning, it’s a bit cold to be sitting on the path’ and she seemed a bit wistful.
“I felt it was a bit suspicious and then she said ‘just over there my son killed himself six weeks ago’. I realised who she was. Ethan was a similar age to my son who knew him.”
Mr Gardener said he helped Camille back to her feet and was reassured that she was going home.
Later that afternoon he came across a Facebook post made by her which seemed a little more ‘upbeat’. Mr Gardener messaged Camille inviting her to go for a walk but she did not reply. A few days later, he discovered she was dead.
Mr Gardner said he was ‘shocked and horrified’ and that he would ‘always wonder if there was anything different’ he could have done.
Area Coroner Kate Bisset addressed his concerns and said his concern was a ‘reflection of his kindness’, adding: “He is not responsible and did everything he could including reaching out to her.”
Detective Inspector Mark Riley, the senior investigating officer, said that when police searched Camille’s home they found several pictures of Ethan on the sofa.
She had left her home via a side gate which her family said was so ‘concerned neighbours wouldn’t have been alerted to her leaving’ and so she wasn’t captured on her Ring doorbell camera.
Camille’s family praised the community mental health team who they said did ‘everything they could’ but added that as an intelligent woman she was capable of convincing people she was ok when she wasn’t.
When she was struggling with her grief she would say that she had ‘lost her purpose’ and was ‘constantly thinking about what had happened’ to Ethan.
General Practitioner Dr Manoon Nair said Camille was last seen at a face-to-face appointment on December 5th. Medical notes indicated she stated she had no suicidal thoughts and was ‘hoping to get better’.
The inquest heard that on December 8th Camille’s sister Dana called police after discovering Camille wasn’t at home and had left her phone. The family also later found a note in which she had described what she wanted to happen after her death.
In his statement her partner Richard said: “It is clear in the note she had thought carefully about what was going to happen. She was simply in too much pain and couldn’t imagine living without her son.”
Returning a conclusion of suicide the coroner said: “Camille, understandably, was destroyed by the loss of her much-loved son and her heart was broken beyond repair. She suffered from catastrophic grief.
“The loss of her only child is unthinkable. It was unsurvivable for Camille. She felt no longer able to survive. Her family has suffered enough tragedy for 100 lifetimes.
“Suicide tears lives apart and sends shockwaves through families and communities. The world is never a better place through the loss of any life through suicide.”
You don’t have to suffer in silence if you’re struggling with your mental health.
Here are some groups you can contact:
Samaritans: Phone 116 123, 24 hours a day, or email jo@samaritans.org, in confidence.
Childline: Phone 0800 1111. Calls are free and won’t show up on your bill.
PAPYRUS: Suicide prevention charity offering professional help and support to children, young people and anyone concerned for someone struggling with life. Call HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141, text 07860 039 967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org.
News
Andy Burnham calls for Labour to adopt proportional representation in radical reform of Britain
‘Decisions that impact our everyday lives – education, social care, the economy – are being made in the heartland of privilege by people absolutely out of touch with ordinary folk’
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has called for the Labour Party to adopt proportional representation for MPs to be elected, as part of a ‘radical rewiring of Britain’.
He says reform will stop parties voted for by a minority gaining complete power at Westminster.
Labour has proposed plans to change how UK democracy currently works, which includes replacing the House of Lords with a directly elected senate for the UK’s nations and regions.
In a speech at the Making Britain Work For Scotland rally, in Edinburgh on Thursday evening, the mayor’s proposals were supported by the first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.
As reported in The Guardian, Burnham said ensuring that MPs were elected using a system that accurately reflected voters’ choices would prevent a party only chosen by a minority of voters having complete power at Westminster.
He said: “I think we need to change the House of Commons as well, I think we need voting reform.
“I don’t believe all people in all places will be equally represented in Westminster until every vote matters.”
He added that Labour’s plans to devolve even greater power to the English regions would allow power to flow from Westminster.
This would make way for a ‘place-first approach’ — where city regions had the authority to work collaboratively, diluting the power of a centralised party machine in London
Burnham was also supported by Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin — who noted she was the only woman among England’s 10 metropolitan mayors.
She said: “We can and we must go further. Power cannot be hoarded in government departments, whether that’s Westminster or Holyrood.
“Decisions that impact our everyday lives – education, social care, the economy – are being made in the heartland of privilege by people absolutely out of touch with ordinary folk.”
Labour’s proposals to introduce new legally underpinned powers for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments, and the English regions, are expected to be a major feature in Keir Starmer’s upcoming general election campaign.
This comes after Gordon Brown held a rally in Edinburgh with his wife, Sarah Brown, under the guidance of Brown’s Our Scottish Future thinktank.
Here, for the first time, Labour leaders from across England, Wales and Scotland addressed a constitutional reform rally, highlighting the pressure Starmer will face to put Brown’s proposals into practice.
The former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie was in the audience and is a member of Brown’s thinktank, suggesting the two parties may cooperate after the next election.
However, Burnham’s stand for electoral reform goes further than Labour’s plans.
Abandoning the current first past the post voting is believed to be opposed by most Labour MPs in the Commons. This is partly because many would face losing their seats and also because it would dilute the elected party’s power.
However supporters of the reform argue that every other legislature in the UK, at Holyrood, the Senedd in Cardiff and Stormont in Northern Ireland, use proportional systems, as do council elections in devolved nations. It is expected a new second chamber at Westminster would also use region-based proportional voting.
News
Tragedy as body found in search for girl, 15, who got into difficulty swimming in reservoir
She was swimming with her friends before getting into difficulty
A body has been found in the search for a teenage girl who got into difficulty while swimming in a reservoir with her friends.
The group were swimming in Carr Mill Dam, in St Helens, at around 12.30pm on Thursday, June 1st.
Emergency services were called after reports of concerns for safety of a 15-year-old girl who had ‘got in distress’.
After hours of searching the water, Merseyside Police confirmed they had found a body.
In a statement at the scene, Chief Inspector for Merseyside Police for St Helens, Paul Holden said: “Officers entered the water in an attempt to find the teenage girl.
“They were joined by officers from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the search culminated in the recovery of the girl’s body.”
The girl’s next of kin have been informed and specialist liaison officers will work closely with the family to support them during this difficult time.
He continued: “When the schools return for the summer term our schools officers will work with St Helens Council to ensure that we are able to educate young people about the dangers of water.
“We know how tempting it can be to cool down in the water on a hot summers day, but we want to ensure that young people are equipped with the right knowledge to keep them safe around water.”
Chief inspector Holden ended the press conference with an appeal for witnesses, and anyone who was in the area at the time, to come forward and contact Merseyside Police — which can be done on their website or by calling 101.
News
Phillip Schofield says he’s ‘lost everything’ and ‘understands how Caroline Flack felt’
The former presenter spoke out in an interview released this morning
Phillip Schofield has asked ‘do you want me to die?’ in an interview released this morning and says he has ‘lost everything’.
The former This Morning presenter has spoken out in his first interview since he departed the show, after it was revealed he had an affair with a younger male colleague .
After the revelations came to light, Schofield resigned as presenter on the ITV daytime show and was dropped by his agency YMU shortly afterwards, as he admitted to the ‘unwise’ but ‘not illegal’ romantic relationship with the runner.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC’s Amol Rajan, released on Friday morning (June 2nd), he discussed the public backlash and abuse he has faced online and in the media since admitting to the affair.
When Rajan began by asking how he was, Schofield replied: “I think I understand how Caroline Flack felt.”
Schofield, visibly in a highly emotionally charged state, said: “If my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here. And, they’ve guarded me, and wouldn’t let me out of their sight.
“I know that’s a selfish point of view. But you come to a point where you just think, how much are you supposed to take?
“If all of those people that write all that stuff, do they ever think that there’s actually a person at the other end?”
He added: “I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart. I have lost everything. If I get through this I don’t know how I move forward. What am I going to do with my days?
“I see nothing ahead of me but blackness and sadness and regret and remorse and guilt. I did something very wrong and then I lied about it consistently… consistently lied about. You can’t live with that. How do you live with that?”
The ex-daytime TV presenter said he felt he had to go ahead with an interview because ‘there is an innocent person here, who didn’t do anything wrong’ who he said is ‘vulnerable and probably feels like I do’.
He urged the media to leave his former lover alone saying: “And I just have to say stop with him, ok with me, but stop with him. Leave him alone now.” Adding he was ‘massively’ concerned about his welfare.
Schofield was also ’emphatic’ in his denial over allegations that he had groomed the man, as yesterday he told The Sun: “I did not [groom him].
“There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way [an abuse of power] because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.”
And he also denied there had ever been a ‘feud’ between him and his former co-presenter and ‘TV sister’ Holly Willoughby. “I’ve lost my best friend. I let her down,” he told The Sun.
“Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent, to say, ‘I am so, so sorry that I lied to you’.” The pair had presented This Morning together since 2009, with Willoughby due to return to the show on Monday.
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary have been among the presenters hosting the programme in recent weeks.
Schofield went on to say that his ‘greatest apology’ over the fallout from the affair was to his former lover and that he would ‘die sorry’ for what he had done.
Andy Burnham calls for Labour to adopt proportional representation in radical reform of Britain
Tragedy as body found in search for girl, 15, who got into difficulty swimming in reservoir
Phillip Schofield says he’s ‘lost everything’ and ‘understands how Caroline Flack felt’
The hunt for the UK’s messiest car is on with a £200 prize for the winner
Toys R Us is returning to UK high streets this month
