A happy-go-lucky north Cumbrian grandad found dead in the River Eden had been troubled and in low mood before his disappearance sparked a major search, an inquest heard.
Thomas Jardine, 82, who also known as Billy and Willie, drove HGVs and skip lorries before retirement and had latterly lived at Cumberland Court in Carlisle.
“My dad was always a happy-go-lucky man,” his daughter, Deborah, said in a statement read to an inquest into Thomas’s death today. “Always cracking jokes, winding people up, making you laugh.”
He suffered from no anxiety or depression in any form, she believed. He walked daily to buy a newspaper and regularly visited Holme Head Bay close to his ground floor flat in Denton Holme.
But in mid-to-late August last year he was reportedly concerned by family worries amid disagreements; unhappy where he lived; upset over bereavements following the deaths of two female friends, and ill health.
On August 23 and 24 he had spent time separately with two grandchildren, Rebekah and Aaron, with his brother, Robert and also talked on the phone with Deborah after several weeks in which the pair had not spoken.
He made comments, as he had in the past, about putting himself in the water, reportedly telling his brother that week: “I am going to do away with myself. I am going to jump in the river.”
Relatives believed such talk was in jest as he had never before entered the river and they were not concerned for his welfare.
But on August 25, Robert and Rebekah visited his flat. It was unlocked, unusually messy and there was a note in the living room which read: “Panic attack. Love you all. Dad.”
Personal belongings, including a phone and wallet, were present, and the alarm was raised.
A high risk missing from home inquiry was launched. Public appeals for information were widely shared as police officers and specialist search team members, including dog handlers, scoured land and water both in Denton Holme and further afield over several days.
Thomas was last seen by a Denton Holme sandwich shop owner on the early afternoon of August 24 when, she said, nothing appeared out of character. His body was found by members of the voluntary North Cumbria Rescue & Response team in the River Eden on September 4.
Daughter Deborah confirmed a watch on his wrist, engraved with “I love you dad” was one she had bought for him, and she recognised a set of keys also recovered as his.
Police who investigated Thomas’s unexplained death concluded that evidence pointed to him entering the river with the intention of taking his own life.
His daughter said of the tragedy: “This came out of the blue and was totally unexpected. No-one can believe he did this. I believe something tipped him over the edge that fateful day.”
Assistant Cumbria coroner Margaret Taylor, who spoke of a tragic case, returned a suicide conclusion.
“When I come to a conclusion I’ve got to think what is more likely than not?’,” said Ms Taylor. “I know the family will find this very difficult and perhaps friends will as well but I think, on balance, in going into that water Mr Jardine intended to end his life.
“For me, taking all the evidence together, it is the most logical explanation. It ended his life in the way he actually contemplated doing in the past and in the days leading up to him going into the water, and there were things that were obviously troubling him at the time.”
