A father-of-two left a tragic suicide note to his daughters before taking his own life after his debts spiralled to £70,000

A father-of-two left a tragic suicide note to his daughters before taking his own life after his debts spiralled to £70,000

By Okorie Chioma -July 20 2018

A father-of-two left a tragic suicide note to his daughters before taking his own life after his debts spiralled to £70,000.

Nigel Hurst had been living without water or heating when bailiffs found his body as they broke in to repossess his home.

The 56-year-old with cancer had just £5 in his bank in the months before he died, his daughter Jessica, 26, told the Daily Record.

In a suicide note left to Jessica and her sister Sally, 20, he said death would be a relief and he had "decided to go".

Heartbroken Jessica has now bravely shared the note in a plea for more humanity from debt collectors.

Nigel wrote: “It breaks my heart to write this. I love you with all my heart.

"I have been so unhappy in my personal life for so long, I cannot go on.

"Now I am about to lose my house as well as my self respect, I have decided to go.”

He added: “Do not grieve for me for long. Passing for me will be a huge relief. I love you both and will always be with you.”

Nigel killed himself last October - three days after driving Jessica to Glasgow where she is studying at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS).

She said: “I wish I had seen it but he was always so exuberant and he didn’t tell me there was a problem.

“He was very quiet in the car that day which was unlike him. Then he stayed all day with me to help me unpack. Now I realise why.”

After her father’s death, bailiffs gave her only a couple of hours at Christmas to pick up sentimental items from his house.

When she arrived, she discovered he had been living with no water or heating.

He had lost teeth through cancer treatment but couldn’t afford to have them replaced. A year ago, he told her there was only a fiver in his bank account.

Nigel's family faced further heartache after his death when they were told the total amount he owed was continuing to grow.

By May this year, debt collectors said they were due more than £82,000 from his estate.

Jessica added: “This debt pushed my father in to taking his own life.

"It is utterly disgusting and inhumane. The amount of pressure that had put on him was unbearable. No human being was going to withstand that as well as having cancer. It is just not fair.”

Jessica, training at Glasgow’s RCS to be an opera singer, only discovered her father’s debts had spiralled out of control after he died and she found an eviction notice in his home.

Nigel was diagnosed with cancer of the kidneys in 2004 and Jessica believes the stress of a divorce from the girls’ mother and his illness led to his financial difficulties.

Nigel had started with a debt of £2,203 for a credit card and loans and £1,500 owed for council tax to South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria, where he lived.

The council tax arrears alone had reached more than £9,000 with fees and interest when Nigel declared himself bankrupt in 2015.

When accountants BDO UK were appointed by the court to collect the debt following bankruptcy, the total amount owed is believed to have reached just over £15,000.

But by May this year, BDO UK said his estate owed the company £82,860.

When he declared himself bankrupt, Nigel, who was still working as a groundsman, had agreed a payment plan of £880 a month but had recently stopped paying it. Jessica believes he couldn’t afford to keep up the payments.

Jessica's younger sister Sally, who has learning difficulties, has suffered anxiety since her father’s death and will not now have the financial cushion of the home her father would have otherwise left her.

Jessica said Nigel had been a “wonderful” father and had maintained a close friendship with their mother despite their divorce.

She said: “We were really close and we spoke every night. This should never have happened. It is an outrage that he died over debt.”

Jessica had offered to pay £40,000 in March in a bid to keep the house but BDO UK refused, saying the sum was too low. After intervention from Nigel’s MP Tim Farron, BDO have since agreed to reduce their claim to £35,869, which it is understood is partly a result of the firm cutting their fees.

But the house, worth £140,000, will need to be sold as there is a mortgage of £56,000 and another outstanding loan of £11,000, although those creditors have not chased repayment.

Jessica said: “To take the family home away from myself and more importantly, from my sister who has learning difficulties, over a loan which started out as just over £2000 is immoral.”

BDO UK refused to give a breakdown of how the original debt had escalated under their charge. They said they had been appointed trustees after Nigel went bankrupt three years ago and applied to put his house up for sale as he was unable to pay debts owed.

They added: “On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, a court bailiff and agent were due to meet Mr Hurst and the property handed over.

"Unfortunately, the tragic discovery of Mr Hurst’s death was made.

"BDO have waived their statutory entitlement to be paid all their fees, and have been in contact with the other stakeholders in an endeavour to minimise the bankruptcy liabilities and costs.”