Disabled woman killed herself after DWP stopped benefit payments in error

A disabled woman killed herself after her benefits were mistakenly stopped leaving notes saying she had no food, could not pay bills and was in "debt, debt, debt".

- Mark Brown

At a rare second inquest into the death of Jodey Whiting, her mother blamed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for her suicide in 2017. Joy Dove told the hearing in Middlesbrough: "I know for a fact. It was the DWP that caused it... I'm sorry, I've got to say it."

A coroner, Clare Bailey, recorded a conclusion of suicide which, she said, had been precipitated by the mistaken withdrawal of benefits by the DWP.

Dove said it was not a one-off failing by the DWP. "The way they have treated some of their most vulnerable claimants is absolutely disgraceful." She added: "It should not have taken an eight-year fight for justice to get where we are today. It has been an uphill battle to get answers and accountability."

Merry Varney, a solicitor for Leigh Day representing Whiting's family, said the cause of death was the same for many other families: "the DWP".

Whiting, a mother of nine children, was 42 and housebound, unable to walk even a few steps, when she took her own life, the inquest heard.