Housebound disabled woman who killed herself after her benefits were cut left notes saying she was unable to pay her bills and had no food, inquest hears
A housebound woman who killed herself after her benefits were cut left notes claiming she was unable to pay her bills and had no food, an inquest has heard.
Jodey Whiting, 42, from Stockton-on-Tees, had been asked in January 2017 to attend a work capability assessment before her payments were stopped, but she was not well enough to go, her mother told the Teesside Coroner.
She was found dead in her flat by family members a month later and an initial inquest recorded a conclusion of suicide but ignored the impact of the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) decision.
A new inquest is now underway, after being granted to Ms Whiting's mother Joy Dove in 2023.
Notes found alongside the mother-of-nine's prescriptions drugs were read out in court on Monday, with one saying: 'I've had enough.'
Bridget Dolan KC, coroner's counsel, said: 'She wrote about not being able to pay her bills and having no food.
'In some she wrote about feeling breathless and having back pain and trying to pay her bills and being in debt.'
Her mother fought a long legal battle for a second inquest, which went all the way to the Court of Appeal.
She told Teesside Magistrates' Court how her daughter had nine children including two sets of twins and suffered from a curvature of the spine, later being diagnosed with a brain cyst.
An Independent Case Examiner (ICE) report into the decision to remove Ms Whiting's benefits found that a number of mistakes had been made, and her payments should not have been withdrawn.
In a pen portrait, Ms Dove said: 'Her death really impacted on me, and to learn from the ICE reports of the number of failures by the DWP was to play was a further deep shock that I have not recovered from.'
She added that she reassured her daughter that she would help her, telling the inquest: 'I said, "don't you worry, we will write in and we will explain how you have been in hospital and you are still convalescing."'
But in January 2017 Ms Whiting was told she had missed the medical assessment while suffering from pneumonia.
And the following month, her mother said Ms Whiting received another letter saying she was fit to work.
Ms Dove claimed that her daughter told her she could not breathe or walk out of her flat at this time.
Ms Whiting then received another letter from the DWP telling her that her benefits were being stopped, including her housing benefit and council tax.
Ms Dove said when she saw her daughter, two days before her death, she was 'shaking and crying' and had threatened to kill herself.
She added that she was sure the stress of losing her benefits was the trigger for her decision to take her own life.
'I know my daughter and I know it was (that),' she told the inquest. 'It was the fact she couldn't find a job, the worry of paying bills and being pushed out after being so vulnerable all those years and years.'
Questioned by Jesse Nicholls, for the family, Ms Dove added: 'I know for a fact it was the DWP that caused it.
'She was quite happy for me to go through and look after her. There's no way it was anything other than that.'
Her father Eric Whiting, meanwhile, compared her to the 'Pied Piper' as she always had children around her who adored her.
He added: 'She always saw the fun side of life until her health issues started.'
Ms Whiting, who had six grandchildren, had suffered from chronic pain, was dependent on opiates and had long-standing mental issues.
Her mother agreed that she had become increasingly housebound in the last years of her life.
She had a hospital stay in December 2016 after contracting pneumonia and that meant she missed letters about her benefits, saying she needed to be medically assessed.
Granting Ms Dove a second inquest in 2023, Lady Justice Whipple said: 'I think it is in the interests of justice that Mrs Dove and her family should have the opportunity to invite a coroner, at a fresh inquest, to make a finding of fact that the (DWP's) actions contributed to Jodey's deteriorating mental health and, if that finding is made, to invite the coroner to include reference to that finding in the conclusion on how Jodey came by her death.
'After all, the department deals with very many people who are vulnerable and dependent on benefits to survive, and the consequences of terminating benefit payments to such people should be examined in public, where it can be followed and reported on by others who might be interested in it.'
The original inquest, which lasted just 37 minutes, determined Ms Whiting had taken her own life.
Ms Dove's lawyers argued there were 'multiple, significant failings' by the DWP when it terminated her daughter's Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) that were not considered at the previous inquest.
Her barrister Jesse Nicholls said : 'The first inquest into Ms Whiting's death provided her family with no catharsis. Indeed, the inquest has had the opposite effect given what is now known about how Ms Whiting came by her death.'
Lady Justice Whipple added in her ruling: 'Thirdly, if the findings the family seeks are made, it is at least possible that the coroner will wish to submit a PFD (prevention of future deaths) report to the department.
'Indeed, it may be that the coroner will wish to hear from the department at the second inquest about any remedial steps which have already been taken in light of the ICE Report and as part of the coroner's consideration of whether to make a PFD report.'
A Government spokesperson said: 'Our sincere condolences remain with Ms Whiting's family.
'DWP is ready to assist the new coroner with their investigation. We cannot comment on active legal proceedings.'
Two photographs of Ms Whiting were placed on the coroner's bench at the start of the hearing.
The inquest continues.
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