Calcot man who took own life feared eviction

The hearing in Newbury last Wednesday was told that 58-year-old Alan Brown had lived with his mother at Windsor Way, Calcot, until her death in January last year.
His aunt, Doreen Luckett, said that the housing association’s threat to evict him had triggered stress and depression.
Ironically, however, Sovereign Housing officer Pat Melia had been due to tell Mr Brown that a new home in his preferred town of Hungerford had been found for him.
However, before she could do so, the inquest heard, Mr Brown was found hanged at the home he had shared with his mother.
A post mortem examination determined the cause of death was asphyxiation.
Mrs Luckett said that on April 18 she had become concerned for Mr Brown, whose mood had become increasingly dark, and that her husband had called at his address.
After Mr Luckett’s husband discovered Mr Brown’s body, police and paramedics were called and several notes were found indicating that he had intended to take his own life, the inquest heard.
Ms Melia – a Sovereign Housing officer responsible for 550 homes in Calcot, Purley and Pangbourne – said that Mr Brown would not have been allowed to stay at the home he had shared with his mother because the tenancy was not transferable.
She added, however, that Mr Brown had been granted a temporary six-month tenancy while he sought alternative accommodation.
Tragically, said Ms Melia, she had intended to tell Mr Brown that she had managed to secure him a home in Hungerford – his preferred home town – on the very day he died.
She added: “I visited him several times. We did everything we could to help him.”
Assistant deputy Berkshire coroner Anna Burnside ruled that Mr Brown took his own life.