A coroner in Northern Ireland yesterday called for an inquiry into why a crippled war veteran who threw himself in front of a train in a fit of depression had been refused a place in a care home despite repeated pleas for help.
Mr Fred McLarnon (81), who had deformed hands and suffered severe bouts of depression, spent the last years of his life in poverty and virtual squalor in his bungalow in Antrim.
He had repeatedly implored health chiefs to admit him to a home for former soldiers in Belfast, an inquest heard yesterday. The coroner, Mr John Leckey, expressed deep concern about the case and said he was referring it to the Northern Ireland Health Minister, Mr Tony Worthington.
Antrim Coroner's Court heard how Mr McLarnon walked in front of an approaching train in March this year and put his head on the railway line.
Dr Ghulam Murtaza Bhurgri, Mr McLarnon's GP, told the inquest how he had repeatedly told the Homefirst Community Trust that it was dangerous for Mr McLarnon to be left on his own.
"He was very unhappy to the point of desperation. He wanted to go to a hospital where he would be among his own type."
Mr McLarnon, who was decorated three times for his army service, had been taunted by youths for being an ex-soldier, the court heard.
On the day he died the former soldier had visited his local British Legion club as he usually did and had asked friends there for help. He had only 63p in his bank book and didn't even have his bus fare home.
Ms Elizabeth Thompson, nursing manager of the Somme home for ex-soldiers in Belfast, told the inquest she had recommended Mr McLarnon's admittance but the Health Board had refused to fund it. She said health chiefs had been "irate" about the pressure being put on them.
"He was very, very lonely. He was obviously in need of help. He was very distressed about the conditions he was living in," she said.
Recording a verdict of suicide, Mr Leckey said: "Obviously he had been very upset at being unable to secure a place in residential accommodation. It is a case for concern if someone like that should end up so despairing that he would see no option but to place his head in front of an approaching train.
"That is an absolutely dreadful way to end your life and it really is cause for concern that someone, particularly with the background Mr McLarnon had, felt driven to do something of such a horrific nature."
A spokesman for Homefirst Community Trust, which rejected Mr McLarnon's request for residential care, said support services in the home had been offered. But its assessment of his needs had obviously differed from that of his GP. "We will obviously co-operate fully with all investigations," he said.