The son of a top university professor suffocated himself to death with helium in his Manchester home.
Physics student Matthew Satterthwaite, 23, had been battling depression after struggling to settle at one of Britain’s most prestigious universities.
While his mother Prof Diana Mitlin was away on academic business in Africa, Matthew was found dead in the bedroom of his family’s £250,000 Victorian townhouse in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, after his cousin became worried when he failed to reply to calls, emails and text messages.
A note found near Matthew read: ”I can’t take this anymore. It’s been years since I instigated anything.”
At an inquest a coroner said he would write to Home Secretary Theresa May saying the sale of helium had to be to be regulated to avoid similar deaths in the future.
It also emerged Matthew had been identified as being a suicide risk by a psychiatrist while living in digs in London, but the details were not transferred back to Manchester where he was referred to a GP.
The hearing was told Matthew, described by his family as the ‘kindest and most loving spirit with a wicked sense of humour’, had been a student at the prestigious Royal Holloway college of the University of London.
But he dropped out twice and saw a psychiatrist in London before returning to his family home where he began counselling for depression.
Despite his illness he took up driving lessons and learnt Swahili ahead of a trip to Tanzania where he planned to help teach physics to young African students.
Tragedy struck in September last year after Matthew’s mother who is Professor of Global Urbanism at Manchester University went on a work expedition to Zambia and South Africa.
Prof Mitlin, 53, who has contributed to a variety of academic texts, and is the former director and chair of the UK charity Homeless International told the Manchester hearing: ”He wanted to go to Tanzania with a person who was teaching physics but he wanted to learn to drive before he went because he thought it would be less of a burden.
”About the end of May he started learning to drive and started learning Swahili. He passed his driving theory in July and had the practical test booked up for October and he was talking about going to Tanzania after that.
”But he was anxious about struggling with depression and not doing very much didn’t help that. I wanted him to go sooner but he wanted to pass his test.
“It’s difficult to say what he was feeling at certain times because I had some sense he was trying to mislead me and he didn’t want me to think he was depressive or suicidal.
“I had no idea he had helium in his room but even if I did I wouldn’t have connected it with a suicide attempt anyway. I’ve never done physics so I wouldn’t know.
“We were going to go to Anglesey for a couple of days so he could practice his driving and he was looking forward to it.”
Prof Mitlin said that in hindsight she believes that Matthew was trying out activities ‘one last time’.
She said: “He wanted to go to a Thai restaurant we were keen on. Looking back on it he was conscious about wanting to do certain things.
”Now it seems strange that having been identified by his psychiatrist as suicidal to then be started again at the beginning when he got back to Manchester.
”Why doesn’t one psychiatrist’s office refer him to a similar department? I think if the NHS had referred him to a similar department and he didn’t feel like he was going back to the start I think he would have presented differently.”
Det Sgt Richard Thompson of Greater Manchester Police said the note Matthew wrote was found in between documents on his desk. He said police weren’t able to ascertain when the note was written or whether it was directly connected to the death.
Recording a verdict of suicide Manchester coroner Nigel Meadows said of Matthew: “He was clearly a very intelligent young boy with a scientist background and it is inevitable he would understand the consequences of what he did.
”If Matthew really had a better understanding of the grief and heartache he would leave behind I am sure he would have thought more than once about this. But he is an adult and he didn’t suffer from any diagnosable mental illness. He has made a choice.
“Losing one’s own child is the greatest burden of grief any one of us will have to manage. I propose to write to the Home Secretary and point out this is another case which involves the use of helium.”
Addressing Prof Mitlin’s concerns over the transferral of documents between mental health institutions nationwide, Manchester Coroner Nigel Meadows said: “This is a big issue because people can’t get the records.
”There is no national database. It doesn’t exist. I can write to the trust and explain this concern which is something I’m going to do.”
Matthew’s family have raised more than £3,000 in his memory to improve youth centres in Tanzania where his uncle was also involved in charity work.
Image courtesy of Atatiwa Flickr, with thanks
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