Benefits cut led to mum of nine killing herself

A housebound disabled woman killed herself when her mental health deteriorated due to her benefits being incorrectly stopped, a coroner has found.

Jodey Whiting, from Stockton-on-Tees, was found dead in 2017 two weeks after being deemed fit to work having missed an assessment because she was in hospital with pneumonia.

The senior coroner for Teesside, Clare Bailey, recorded a verdict of suicide due to a "deteriorating mental state" precipitated by the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) decision.

The DWP said it was "deeply regretful" after the inquest heard that Ms Whiting, 42, "had lost hope" at the time of her death.

Extracts from notes Ms Whiting left for family were read at the hearing and said she could not pay her bills and had no food.

An initial inquest in May 2017 recorded a verdict of suicide but did not consider the actions of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in stopping her benefits.

Her mother, Joy Dove, fought a long, legal battle for a second hearing, going all the way to the Court of Appeal.

She told the inquest at Teesside Magistrates' Court, how her daughter, who had two sets of twins, suffered from a curvature of the spine and was later diagnosed with a brain cyst.

She dealt with chronic pain for years, developed drug dependency and had poor mental health.

A letter from the DWP was found among the unopened mail at Ms Whiting's flat asking why she had not attended a recent medical assessment.

Another letter telling her she was "fit to work" had arrived a month later.

As well as losing her Employment and Allowance (ESA), she would also lose housing and council tax benefits.

Giving evidence, 71-year-old Ms Dove said that when she saw her daughter, two days before her death, she was "shaking and crying" and had threatened to kill herself.

She told the hearing: "Jodey said, 'I can't breathe, I can't walk, I can't walk out of the door. What am I going to do":[]}