Much-loved Alfreton man, 25, killed himself after job claim

A much-loved young man hanged himself after he claimed he had lost out on a job, an inquest heard.
Andrew Papworth.Andrew Papworth.
Andrew Papworth.

Andrew Papworth – who was described as “very kind and very generous” – was found dead by his mother and sister at his home on Brook Avenue in Alfreton.

Chesterfield coroners’ court heard the 25-year-old said he had been promised a cleaning job at the Alliance Healthcare depot in South Normanton but that it was given to someone else.

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A representative from Alliance Healthcare told Thursday’s hearing that the job had not been filled on a permanent basis at the time of Mr Papworth’s death.

Gerard Papworth last saw his son – who already worked at the depot as a warehouse operative – on June 17, 2013, the day before he was found dead.

He said: “He was considerably down as he told me a job he’d been after and almost promised was going to another guy.

“He was a very quiet lad, very kind and very generous.

“He was very good with computers and he loved his gadgets.”

One of his colleagues, Karen Allingham, told the court: “I last worked with Andrew on June 17 – he was a lovely young man.

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“We had lunch together and he seemed very, very quiet and down.

“He said the job that he was promised was given to someone else.”

Michael Stocks, a human resource business partner at Alliance Healthcare, said: “At the time of Mr Papworth’s death, the cleaning job had not been filled on a permanent basis.”

His mother, Gwen Papworth, told the court she did not think her son intended to kill himself.

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She said: “He was planning ahead and had lots to look forward to.

“He had plans for his garden, he was planning a loft conversion and he was looking forward to going on holiday with us.”

She added: “I just think he had a fit of temper because he thought he’d get the job.”

No suicide note was found.

Addressing Mr Papworth’s family, coroner Paul McCandless said: “Andrew was very much loved by you and he loved you dearly.”

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Mr McCandless said he had “very real and significant doubts” that Mr Papworth intended to kill himself and therefore ruled out a verdict of suicide.

Instead, he recorded a narrative verdict setting out the facts of his death.

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