Man, 37, found dead weeks after being charged with 'serious' offence

A man was found dead weeks after being charged with a 'serious' criminal offence, an inquest has heard. Simon Cooper, 37, was discovered unresponsive at his home in Mossley, Tameside, on September 22 last year.

An inquest into the carpenter's death got underway at South Manchester Coroners' Court in Stockport on Thursday (November 7). The court heard he had a 'history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts'.

It was also revealed he had been under investigation by Greater Manchester Police for over 18 months. He was arrested in January 2023 before being bailed. The nature of the allegations - made in January 2022 - were not disclosed in court.

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Coroner Alison Mutch was told that last August, the month before his death, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised Mr Cooper being charged. It was not revealed in court what the charge, or charges, were.

Mr Cooper was informed of the decision by letter and was due to appear in court last December, the inquest was told. A doctor involved in his care said it was a 'big issue for him' and had asked: "What if I go to prison?"

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Curran, from GMP's prevention branch - also the force's strategic lead for mental health - told the hearing that it was 'unusual for an offence of that nature' to be dealt with by way of a postal requisition and that it likely 'wouldn't happen now'.

Responding to concerns raised by Ms Mutch over the length of the investigation, DCI Curran said: "For serious offences where there is forensics involved, it would take some time. Every investigation is different and there were a number of complexities in respect of his investigation."

Mr Cooper, who also had a 'history of drug and alcohol use' had 'some involvement' with mental health services before the summer of last year, but his condition 'deteriorated' and he 'returned to alcohol', the court heard.

On August 22, Mr Cooper was detained under the Mental Health Act by police and taken to Tameside Hospital 'having expressed suicidal ideation'. He said he wanted to be stopped from 'doing something stupid', Lily Lewis, representing the family said.

A decision was taken not to admit him and he was referred to a home treatment team run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, the inquest heard. He referred himself to the alcohol and drug service Change Grow Live (CGL) and had sought counselling from the mental health charity Mind.

Dr Javed Chisthi, a consultant psychiatrist at Pennine Care, said Mr Cooper had 'low mood, secondary to his psycho-social circumstances'. Asked by the coroner what the 'main drivers' of his low mood were, he said: "Probably relationships, and most importantly the ongoing case he was experiencing, which was a very big issue for him. If someone is also using alcohol and drugs, alcohol being a very powerful depressant, it would perpetuate that."

Ms Mutch asked: "If there is a change in relation to that, if a decision is made to charge rather than just continue investigating, would that impact on the level of risk that may exist?"

"Yes, that would," the doctor replied. "He would always mention what might happen in the future, what if I had to go to prison and what people around him would think, and how it would affect his children. So it is a very difficult position to be in. But it was something that was ongoing."

GMP's legal representative Samuel Watson said that in Pennine Care's investigation report, the police investigation was cited as 'one of nine factors, not the only factor, that may have impacted on the mental health of Simon'.

"It's not down to any specific factor, there's always multiple factors, but his court case was one of the factors which I feel certainly aggravated things and alcohol use which made things even riskier," Dr Chisthi told the court.

A post-mortem gave Mr Cooper's cause of death as hanging. Toxicology analysis found he had 'quite a significant amount' of alcohol in his system.

The inquest, due to conclude on Friday, continues.