A tragic dad livestreamed his own suicide on Facebook prompting a terrified viewer to call 999 for help, an inquest heard.
Paul David Hilton, 34, was found dead at his home in Bolton in April this year.
The inquest heard the much-loved man started a ” Facebook live” broadcast before taking his own life and a “number of friends and acquaintances” were watching as the tragic events unfolded.
As soon as a friend realised what was happening, he alerted the emergency services and paramedics rushed to the home on Tennis Street shortly after 7am on April 30.
The stream continued to be viewed as paramedics forced entry to his home, reports the Manchester Evening News.
However, Mr Hilton was deemed to be “beyond resuscitation” and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A coroner ruled Mr Hilton, who had a history of mental health issues as well as drug and alcohol abuse, had taken his own life and had done so intentionally, as he recorded a conclusion of suicide.
He added it was an “unusual”, “surreal” and “alarming” feature of the case that Mr Hilton had “set up and orchestrated the scene to make sure his final moments were live-streamed.”
The coroner said it was clear at times that Mr Hilton was “crying out for help” and that “in the circumstances, the family want to know if more could have been done to help him.”
In the summer of 2021, he was referred to the community-based addiction team Achieve, but was discharged in July due to what the coroner said was his “unwillingness and inability to engage with them”.
In January last year, he was admitted to the hospital after reportedly self-harming but was discharged the following day and referred back for treatment and monitoring in the community.
Three weeks before his death he also had a telephone consultation with Jaclyn Pickup, a mental health nurse based at his GP surgery.
However, she said despite disclosing he had self-harmed several weeks earlier, he had agreed to restart his medication after not taking it for around a week, and had “clearly indicated he didn’t feel suicidal”.
Mr Hilton’s mother Carol said his mood was “up and down” for around a year before his death. “There have just been so many times. We felt like, ‘what is it going to take to get him that help’?”
The two-day inquest heard evidence from two of Mr Hilton’s friends who watched the live-stream on the morning of April 30.
One, Lewis Morrison, said after waking early and receiving a notification that Mr Hilton had “gone live” on Facebook, he assumed it “would be something amusing” as “Paul was funny”. Police Coroner’s Officer Juliann Hyde, who interviewed Mr Morrison, told Bolton Coroner’s Court.
However, she said when he “realised what he was going to do he began to panic” and woke his girlfriend telling her to dial 999.
A handwritten note was found in his home whilst he also posted a comment along with the live stream, both of which were interpreted as an “expression of his intent”, the inquest heard.
A police investigation concluded there were no suspicious circumstances or third-party involvement.
Speaking about her son after the inquest, mum Carol said: “Paul’s passing has left our family devastated. He was my first born son and big brother to Anthony, Paula and Emma.
“A loving father to four beautiful children. He was adored by so many people. Not just family, he had many, many friends, some of them over 30 years from primary school.
“Then Paul lost his nan in 2011 and this is when his mental health battles began as they had such a close bond he took her passing very hard. As we are (taking) his now.
“We love him so much and will miss him eternally.”