A brass band player who was vowing to commit suicide to ‘have the last laugh,’ killed himself just hours after he accidentally caused a massive explosion which ripped through a Rochdale apartment block.
Lovesick Maurice Fletcher, 57, had ‘constantly talked’ about ways to die after he became depressed and lonely over his troubled love life.
After telling a friend he planned to jump off a bridge or shoot himself, Mr Fletcher, a father of one, is thought to have inadvertently knocked over a flammable substance in his flat then went out.
Later the substance ignited, triggering a gas blast which tore through his home in Bamford, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester and three neighbouring flats leaving two men with burn injuries.
Mr Fletcher who was initially feared trapped in the wreckage was later located safe and well away from the scene.
But as investigations continued into the blast, he was found dead less than 24 hours later from carbon monoxide poisoning when a farmer checking on horses found him in his fumed filled Ford Ka in a secluded field.
Notes revealed he had admitted causing the blast.
In the run up to the tragedy Mr Fletcher, an Inland Revenue official who played cornet in the Stalybridge Brass Band, had been pining for an ex-girlfriend named only as Pauline.
An inquest in Heywood was told he suffered bouts of depression following the breakdown of his relationships and would tell of his woes to close friend Phil Cornell.
During one depressive episode he was admitted to hospital where he spent a number of weeks.
Mr Cornell told the hearing: ”A previous boyfriend of Pauline’s came back on the scene and she wanted to move on in her life he didn’t want to let go.
”He was hanging onto that relationship and it was becoming an obsession which got greater and greater, to the point where in my mind he was stalking her.
”In the last few weeks of that relationship the police were involved and asked him to stay clear. He would talk repeatedly about ending his life once he was on a downward spiral with Pauline.
”He would talk of not having anything to live for; he was not getting up in the morning and not wanting to be in crowded places. In the weeks building up he was constantly talking about killing himself and methods of doing it. He was talking about jumping off bridges.
”He always said he wanted to get a gun and blow his brains out to take revenge on his mind going – to have the last laugh.
”I came to the conclusion that one day he would, my feeling was that he would do something. I was constantly trying to encourage him to go back to the doctors – but I couldn’t persuade him.”
Mr Cornell said he last saw Mr Fletcher alive on July 29 last year – the day before the explosion – during which the musician handed him a wad of up to £2,000.
He added: “I met him in the pub and when I saw him I could tell he was upset. I just sat and listened. He was going over the same thing. Night after night he would tell me the history of his relationships. When I left he was very upset.”
He said that the following day he learnt of the explosion and texted Mr Fletcher saying he was surprised he hadn’t heard from him. But on July 31 he was contacted by the police and told his friend had been found dead.
Police who attended the scene found hand-written notes in the car, one referring to him ending his own life and one saying he had accidentally caused an explosion at his flat.
His GP confirmed Mr Fletcher had ongoing depression and anxiety and had been referred to the mental health services on numerous occasions.
In a statement Mr Fletcher’s mother Pauline Fletcher, who lives in Norfolk, said her son had been an ‘outgoing person’ and ‘very sociable’.
She said he enjoyed music and playing the cornet and going on holidays. She said she last spoke to her son the day before his death and he had appeared ‘calm’.
She added that he ended the call telling her that he loved her and she had no concerns for his welfare. She added that she never knew him to threaten self-harm.
Recording a suicide verdict Assistant Coroner Lisa Hasmi said: “It was clear that he was suffering and was particularly troubled by the mental health issues but also the nature and extent of relationships, a number of them came to an end, more recently Pauline.
“He was clearly very anxious leading up to his death.”
During the blast a 63 year old man suffered burns to his upper arms and shoulder and a 36-year old man received treatment for a broken arm, burns to his body and smoke inhalation. A woman, 74, was treated for shock.
Investigators said all the casualties were lucky to escape alive after half of the house, which contained four flats, and its roof collapsed. Two neighbouring houses were also badly damaged.
Detectives initially treated the explosion as arson but later investigated it as a case of criminal damage.
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