Withdrawal of benefits led to tragic end

DWP WRONGLY STOPPED BENEFITS AS MUM SAID 'I HAVE HAD ENOUGH'

- By TOM WILKINSON

A HOUSEBOUND mum took her own life as her mental health deteriorated after her benefits were incorrectly stopped, a coroner has found.

A second inquest into Jodey Whiting's death heard extracts from notes she left for family members read out, in which she said she could not pay her bills and had no food. An initial inquest following the 42-year-old's death in 2017 did not consider the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in stopping her benefits.

For years, her mother Joy Dove fought a legal battle for a second inquest, going all the way to the Court of Appeal. She told the hearing at Teesside Magistrates' Court how her daughter who was a mother of nine, including two sets of twins suffered from a curvature of the spine and was later diagnosed with a brain cyst.

Ms Whiting, of Stockton, dealt with chronic pain for years, developed drug dependency and had poor mental health, Teesside Coroner's Court was told yesterday.

Coroner Clare Bailey recorded a conclusion that Ms Whiting's death was suicide "in the context of a deteriorating mental state, precipitated by the withdrawal of state benefits".