Credit crunch blamed for man

by Martin Thomas. Published Fri 05 Sep 2008 08:11, Last updated: 2008-09-05
Karl Harrison and Grandaughter Demi-Lee
Karl Harrison and Grandaughter Demi-Lee

A family man made jobless in the Credit Crunch hanged himself when he could not keep up the repayments on his mortgage.

Quantity surveyor Karl Harrison, 40, feld harassed by debt collectors and credit companies, an inquest heard.

His body was found hanging in the garden shed of the family home in Anglesey, North Wales, on 21st May 2008.

And his heartbroken wife Julie Harrison told yesterday (FRI) how the pressure became too much for Karl, who had two sons Sean, 20 and Daniel, 16.

Julie, 40, of Maes Llwyn, Amlwch, told how she and Karl met at the aged of 17 but feared that they would loose their home because they had defaulted on mortgage repayments.

At her three-bedroomed home Julie Harrison, 40, told of her despair when she found husband Karl hanged in their garden shed after giving no clue to his mental state.

Julie revealed that the couple were only behind by £2,400 on their payment schedule and had been seeking help from her family.

She said:"All I could do was scream when I saw Karl's body hanging there.

"It was horrible.

"My first instinct was to grab his body and tear him down but something stopped me.

"I ran out into the street screaming for help before the horror sank in.

"Eventhough we were behind with the mortgage repayments we thought we could handle it.

"It wasn't much, we only owed #2,400 in back payments.

"We have been through plenty of ups and downs in our 20 year marriage.

"He kept things bottled up but he seemed to be acting normal.

"If he would have showed signs of being unhappy I would have tried to help him.

"I was working two jobs at the time, as a cleaner for a leisure centre and also doing some bar work to pay the bills.

"I can't drive so Karl would pick me up and drop me off at work everyday.

"He picked me up from my cleaning job at 11 to take me to my bar job and that was the last time I saw him alive.

"I wasn't really worried because I thought it must just have been a misunderstanding or that he has been called away to a job interview.

"When I got home and couldn't find him in the house, I thought he would probably be in the shed tinkering with his motorbike. I opened the shed door and couldn't believe what I saw.

"He said he would pick me up when I had finished work later that afternoon but he never showed up.

"We always share a kiss before he goes but for some reason we didn't and that's the thing that keeps running through my mind."

Karl had become a grandfather for the first time six months ago.

His son Sean, 20, said: "He was the man of the family.

"But he felt he was letting everyone down because he was out of work, even though we did not think that but he was.

"He felt he had to be looking after his family.

"When my daughter Demi Lee was born he seemed so happy. and he was a wonderful granddad to Demi.

"He was not just my dad, he was my best mate as well. I was with him 24/7 and I will truly miss him. He will never be forgotten by his family."

Recording a suicide verdict at the inquest in Llangefni, North West Wales Coroner, Dewi Pritchard-Jones, said: "From what the family say it is clear he was being harassed for mortgage repayments.

"He was unemployed and was having mortgage problems.

"He had not shown his intent to his wife but this was keeping in character with the type of man he was, he kept things bottled up.

"It is becoming an increasingly common feature in cases like these for there to be mortgage problems because of the economic situation, the credit crunch.

"I expect there will be more of these cases in the future."





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