Jodey Whiting: New inquest opens into Stockton benefits mum's death
A new inquest into the death of disabled mum of nine, who took her own life after her benefits were stopped, has heard she was ''shocked, distressed and desperate''.Jodey Whiting, from Stockton-on-Tees, who had numerous physical and mental health issues, was found dead in 2017, two weeks after being denied Employment Support Allowance (ESA) because she had been deemed fit to work.The 42-year-old's mother, Joy Dove, has spent years campaigning for a fresh hearing after the original lasted 37 minutes and did not include information from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).Ms Dove, 71, said as a result of the DWP's decision, her daughter "lost hope". The inquest in Middlesbrough continues.
In 2016, Ms Whiting missed a benefits assessment after being admitted to hospital with pneumonia, the inquest heard, which was followed by doctors finding a cyst on her brain.It was only after being finally discharged that a letter from the DWP was found among the unopened mail at her flat asking why she had not attended a recent medical assessment.A subsequent letter then arrived telling her she was "fit to work".
Giving evidence at Teesside Coroner's Court, Ms Dove said she could see a change in her daughter from that moment on.She said: "Jodey said, 'I can't breathe, I can't walk, I can't walk out of the door. What am I going to do?'''She lost hope, she worried she wouldn't be able to pay her bills and have nothing to live on."In the letters she left for her children following her death, Ms Whiting wrote: "I've had enough, I want peace."
The coroner at the original inquest in May 2017 recorded a verdict of suicide.An Independent Case Examiner (ICE) concluded in 2019 there had been a number of serious failings in the DWP's handling of Ms Whiting's application.At the end of her evidence, Ms Dove said: ''It was the DWP that caused it. There's no way it was anything other."A representative from the DWP is due to give evidence at the inquest, which is expected to last three days.
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