Devoted mother killed herself

A “devoted” mother took her own life after a long history of mental health problems.

On the evening of April 12, 2013, Yvonne Critelli, of Darwin Street, Clarksfield, had had a row with her son, Bradley. He left to go to a pub in Oldham town centre and during the evening his mother made several phone calls to him and left messages.

Mr Critelli returned home just after 1am to find that he had been locked out and went to a friend’s house.

He returned a few hours later and, still locked out, slept in the shed.

When he awoke at noon, he threw a brick through the kitchen window in order to gain entry.

When he went in to his mother’s bedroom, he found that she was dead. Paramedics and police were then called to the scene.

Heywood Coroners’ Court heard that Miss Critelli (38) had suffered from schizophrenia and depression, for which she had been taking medication for 15 years.

The cause of death was put down to an overdose of her prescribed medication, amisulpride, an anti-depressant.

Her mother, Joan Kingsland, said her daughter was either very happy or sad and she did not have a good relationship with other members of the family.

Her relationship with her son was very problematic, adding that the recent row may have been the last straw.

She said: “She put all her time and energy in her son. She was devoted to him. It was fine while he was growing up but when he was a teenager he started to rebel. He could get away with anything. She was a lot weaker where he was concerned.”

Senior coroner Simon Nelson concluded that the cause of death was amisulpride toxicity and Miss Critelli had taken the decision to take her own life.

She had expressed suicidal feelings often but her therapists and her GP said that for the past two years, her mood seemed to improve and she was making long-term plans.
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