Change language
Actions
Displays
Remove from selection
Add to selection
Abstract

An“intelligent, “witty” and “compassionate” opera-loving gardener from High­bury took his own life last year following a bout of serious mental illness, an inquest has heard.

Thomas Kelly, of Riversdale Road, died after hanging himself from a tree in the gardens of Highbury Quadrant Congregational Church on November 25 – just days after moving into a crisis centre following an unsuccessful attempt to end his life.

On Tuesday, St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Kelly was a “loving” and “loyal” man who had been driven to despair by a series of debilitating mental illnesses, culminating in the mistaken but unshakeable belief that he suffered from bowel and bladder conditions and had throat cancer.

Taking to the witness stand on Tuesday, Paul Beard, from Hackney, paid tribute to the Australian with whom he had been close friends for nearly 30 years.

“Tom was a loyal friend. He always followed what I was doing,” he said. “He was compassionate, very intelligent and he adored opera and theatre. He was thoughtful and very informed about the arts.

“I knew from the first time I met him that he struggled with some demons. It’s a long story of personality and affective illness, anxiety and feelings of inadequacy.

“Tom always felt that everyone else had made it and that he had not lived up to the expectations of others – his friends, siblings and parents.

“He got tinnitus [a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears]. That was his downfall really. It was more and more debilitating.”

The court heard that the 59-year-old, who moved to London in the mid-1980s, at times drank heavily and had suffered from social anxiety and depression for decades.

His mental state worsened last summer after he became “completely convinced” he was ill and could not be persuaded by doctors, who assured him he was physically healthy.

“He became more and more physically focused,” Mr Beard told the inquest. “He was completely fixated with the bladder. Later it became his bowels, then the throat. He was running in and out of A&E. He was completely irrational.”

In early November, Mr Beard said, things became “really bad”. “I knew he used to abuse alcohol but I had never seen him in the state he was in,” he added, referring to a visit to Mr Kelly’s flat.

Weeks later, Mr Kelly tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets and drinking whiskey, but he survived and was admitted to hospital, where he told doctors he was “very disappointed” he had not succeeded in ending his life.

He agreed to move into the Highbury Grove Crisis House, run by social landlord One Housing Group, where he was free to come and go as he pleased. He was in the care of Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

Asked whether he could have been placed under greater scrutiny after taking an overdose on November 23, psychiatrist Dr Stephen Ginn said: “He had a tendency to say dramatic things and then reassuring people he would not do anything. The team that went to see him are experienced and they were convinced by it.”

It was never deemed necessary to ‘section’ him because he was fully cooperating with the crisis team, Dr Ginn added.

Mr Kelly’s body was found in the church grounds by a dog walker on the day he was due to have a psychiatric review. A bottle of whiskey was found by his side. He was pronounced dead at the scene. After his death, a book on the theme “means of death, alternative ways of dying” was discovered in his flat.

Mr Kelly was born in Melbourne, where he studied commerce and achieved honours in fine arts.

In London, he found work at the Australian High Commission and studied horticulture at Kew Gardens, starting up a small gardening company, with limited success.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Beard told the Tribune: “Tom had a great love of history, art, languages, theatre, music, opera and gardening. He could pack more into his cultural calendar in one week than most of us could manage in a month.

“The Royal Opera House Covent Garden was just one of the many venues much frequented by him, to such a degree that arguably it became his main residence.

“Tom was gregarious, socially skilled, loving, thoughtful, witty and kind. He extended many acts of compassion. He took great interest in what his friends and family were doing in their lives and felt pride in their successes.”

Assistant coroner Dr William Dolman recorded a conclusion of suicide “while the balance of his mind was disturbed”.