'To finally get the conclusion I have been fighting so long for means the world to me and Jodey's family'

MUM'S EIGHT-YEAR JUSTICE BATTLE FOR DAUGHTER WHO TOOK OWN LIFE AFTER BENEFITS WERE WITHDRAWN

- By TOM WILKINSON (PA) and NAOMI CORRIGAN

A GRIEVING mum spoke of her relief after a coroner confirmed the reasons behind her daughter's suicide following an eight-year fight.

Jodey Whiting, 42, took her own life in 2017 about two weeks after her Employment Support Allowance (ESA) was withdrawn by the Department for Work and Pensions.

She left notes for family members in which she said she could not pay her bills and had no food.

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”.

Her mum, Joy Dove, said she always believed her daughter took her life due to the DWP error.

The 71-year-old said: “It is clear from the coroner's conclusion that had the DWP followed their own protocols at the time of Jodey’s death then her benefits would not have been terminated, causing her so much distress she felt she had no way out.

“I am grateful to the coroner for their thorough examination of the circumstances surrounding Jodey’s death. To get the conclusion I have been fighting so long for means the world to me and Jodey’s family.

“I have always known that the failings of the DWP led to Jodey’s death and that has now been confirmed by this inquest.”

Ms Whiting, from Thornaby, was a vulnerable mum-of-nine, who had multiple physical and mental illnesses which left her housebound and reliant on welfare benefits.

She took her own life after the DWP suspended her benefits because she missed a work capability assessment.