Tragic tale of torment

TRAGEDY . . . Andrew Summerscales

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A FORMER police officer from Oldham haunted by the demons of horrific tragedies filed his own death report before taking his life, an inquest heard.

Andrew Summerscales (46) had "loved" being a police officer until fellow officers on his shift, his "very good friends" and colleagues Nicola Hughes (23), from Diggle, and Fiona Bone (32), from Sale, were both murdered by one-eyed gangster Dale Cregan. He had also been in the crowd during the Hillsborough disaster and found a member of the public who had committed suicide when walking in the park while off-duty in April, 2015 ­- at the same spot where he would take his own life.

Mr Summerscales filled out his own death report on official police paperwork, found in his pocket, and a body identity tag before hanging himself in Cheetham Park, Stalybridge. There were no drugs or alcohol in his body.

Cregan, who was already wanted by police for the double murder of a father and son, lured the officers with a bogus call before killing them in a gun and grenade attack in Hattersley, Tameside, in September, 2012.

Mr Summerscales' life "changed that day", his son Joshua (21), told the inquest at Stockport Coroner's Court, and he sank into depression and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He went back to work after receiving treatment for depression but eventually left the police in November, 2015, after 15 years' service.

The ex-officer was a life-long Liverpool fan and had been in the infamous Leppings Lane End on the day of the Hillsborough disaster, later attending memorial events at Anfield, and it was something he had talked about to friends and family in the past.

Suffering a "relapse" in his mental health, in the early hours of August 30, last year, he sent emails and text messages to friends and colleagues telling them he intended to take his own life.

GP Barbara Ellis had seen Mr Summerscales after he was diagnosed with PTSD by his work's occupational health after the murder of two colleagues who worked on the same shift at Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

He was treated with anti-depressants and psychological therapies and was off work for around 12 months.

But each year around the time of the murders he would begin to feel "very down and not able to cope", and on "several occasions" had talked about suicidal thoughts, Dr Ellis said.

Almost four years to the anniversary of the killings, Detective Inspector Ian Harratt told the inquest he was called after the body of Mr Summerscales was discovered. In his pocket was the completed paperwork used by police when bodies are found along with a bracelet or body tag used to identify the deceased.

Mr Harratt said: "He had filled out his own death report and his own identity bracelet."

The officer said PC Colette Tattersall had received an email, dated at 1.12am on August 30, from Mr Summerscales saying he intended to take his own life.

GMP's own consultant psychiatrist, Dr Ian Rogerson, said he had seen and discharged Mr Summerscales in July, 2013, after he was "much improved", though he was still on anti-depressants and receiving therapy to help his mental health.

His ex-girlfriend Carly Weston, in a statement read to the hearing, said they had had a "great relationship" until Cregan's attack, and they separated eight months later but remained good friends.

"I tried to help him as much as I could but he was in a very dark place," she said in the statement.

"His moods remained very up and down. He returned to work eventually and seemed to be coping.

"A number of other things also contributed. Early on in our relationship he said he had been at Hillsborough on the day of the disaster and that had affected him. He had been in the crowd on the Leppings Lane End."

Mr Summerscales left the police in November, 2015, and felt like a "weight lifted" off him and found a "new focus" working as a delivery driver, but he could not overcome his old demons.

Joanne Kearsley, Area Coroner for Manchester South, concluded that Mr Summerscales took his own life.

She added: "He had endured a number of tragedies through his life. There's no doubts the events of September, 2012, affected him greatly.

"He had some help and assistance after that incident but clearly and quite understandably he struggled to continue his role as a police officer.

"I think probably he was relapsing at the time he died. I have no doubt at the time he died he was suffering a relapsing of the condition he had suffered since 2012."

Addressing his son Joshua, she added: "You should be very proud, I have no doubt he suffered a number of tragic events through his life and I'm very thankful for you giving evidence."

Cregan is serving four life sentences in jail without parole.