Roy Curtis committed suicide after worrying about claiming benefits
Roy Curtis was given an ultimatum saying he had to attend a fit-to-work assessment on September 2018.
Mr. Curtis, who was shy by nature and was also diagnosed with mild autism, refused to attend the appointment and told his friends via email that he had planned to commit suicide later on. Police were alerted about his fragile condition and after discovering his 40-page suicide note, he was rushed to a special mental health treatment center for recovery.
After getting discharged
While he was in hospital, the doctors worked on restoring his benefits payments and made certain that they were backdated. But the problem came when he was given the “okay” to go home. The centre requested him to attend a fit-to-work assessment for receiving benefits.
This led to Mr. Curtis becoming extremely anxious, as told to the Milton Keynes coroner, Dr. Romi Babatunde. He reported to the inquest that Mr. Curtis was excused because of his fear of open spaces. After that, nobody ever contacted him to check his condition.
News that he died became known only on August 21, 2019 when his landlords broke into his apartment with an eviction notice. Bailiff Ian Wright found his body in the bedroom, or more specifically, in the cupboard. A post mortem examination described that the body was in a state of “advanced mummification” and had no blood available to do a toxicology examination.
Dr. Marchevsky, who was his doctor at the hospital described him as “very polite, well-mannered, very pleasant and a likeable person.” He also said that Mr. Curtis was not concerned about the medication or psychologic treatment, but on practical matters. Tom Osborne, the senior coroner of Milton Keynes also said that Mr. Curtis chose to die over going though the process of being questioned about his capabilities.
(Cover: Hyde News & Pictures ltd)