An elderly widower committed suicide because he was too proud to report his neighbours over an alleged campaign of bullying, an inquest has been told.
Eric Sutcliffe, 69, was reduced to tears after being belittled, shouted at and taunted in a bitter feud over sharing a communal garden and branded a “pervert” after he was accused of staring at a woman in the street, it was claimed.
Despite pleas from other neighbours to go to the police, the grandfather of 11 refused and sought treatment for depression, the inquest in Bradford was told.
The next-door neighbours moved on, but Mr Sutcliffe a retired gas engineer, felt ashamed that he had been unable to cope, it was suggested. He was referred to mental health services on January 16. Six weeks later, still waiting to see a doctor, he was found hanged at his flat in Wibsey, West Yorkshire, by his daughter, Yvonne Hanson.
At the hearing, the neighbours were named only as Mr and Mrs Naylor but they are believed to be Arthur Naylor, 72, and his wife, Glennis, 63. The bullying claims could not be put to the couple, who did not give evidence at the inquest and could not be reached for comment.
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Mrs Hanson told the hearing: “He was very ashamed at 69, for the first time in his life, to be bullied. He took this as very negative toward his masculinity. He never cried but he did cry over the bullying happening to him.
“Both my dad and neighbours downstairs had iron gates because there were a lot of break-ins. They would taunt Dad through the railing. They called Dad a pervert. That devastated him.”
Ann Nuttall, 63, a neighbour, told the inquest that Mr Sutcliffe had been a kind, proud man who was a total gentleman. “He was friendly to everyone he met and would do anyone a good turn,” she said. “In the 26 years I knew Eric I never heard anyone say a bad word about him and he never said a bad word about anyone else.”
She told the inquest that he mentioned that he was having trouble with his new neighbours. They had been making snide comments and had indicated that they were unhappy sharing the communal garden, she said.
“Eric attempted to deal with the situation himself by approaching the Naylors in a positive way, asking if they could talk about the situation and resolve any problem they felt they had with him. He tried to be the peacemaker and point out that it was in everyone’s interests to live together peacefully,” Mrs Nuttall said. His offer to discuss the matter was turned down.
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The situation is said to have got worse with Mr Naylor accusing Mr Sutcliffe of “perving out of the window”. Mrs Nuttall said that she told him to log a complaint with the police and local housing association but he did not.
Mr Sutcliffe lived alone at the flat after the death of his wife, Kathleen, in 2002. The Naylors moved out the week before he took his life. After Mr Sutcliffe’s death, Mr and Mrs Naylor told police that they had “no issue whatsoever” with the old man. His GP said that there was an element of “paranoia about his neighbours”.
Oliver Longstaff, the coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide. “It is not for me to make any findings on these neighbours especially as they have not been able to speak themselves,” he said.