Oswestry man who died after setting fire was let down by services, say partner
The partner of a mentally-ill Oswestry man who took his own life by starting a fire at a house said he was let down by those who could have helped him.
Robert Andrew Churchill, who was 50, died in hospital on November 3 last year, 12 days after he was pulled from a house fire in College Road, Oswestry.
His partner of more than 20 years said this week after the conclusion of an inquest that she had tried to get him mental health support from a number of agencies but had been rebuffed because of his drinking.
Police and firefighters were called to College Road on October 22 to reports of a fire.
Mr Churchill was removed from the house by firefighters and taken to the burns unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where he died on November 3.
A report by the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service concluded that the fire had been set deliberately in a bedroom.
Last week an inquest was held and Shropshire's senior coroner John Ellery recorded a verdict that it had been a suicide.
"The evidence I have seen indicates that it was deliberate and that he intended to kill himself," he said.
The inquest heard that Mr Churchill had faced severe mental health problems and had been drinking heavily in the months leading up his death.
After the inquest, his long-term partner Gill Hayes said the verdict was "partly what [she] wanted" but that while he was alive he "hadn't been given a chance" by various agencies she contacted on his behalf about support.
She said that because of his heavy drinking he would not be accepted for various courses and that because the two were not married, she could not access his medical information on his behalf.
