Shaking, crying, and hopeless.
That’s how beloved mum-of-nine Jodey Whiting, from Stockton, was described in the days leading up to her taking her own life.
The 42-year-old had just had her benefits cut by the DWP - despite being housebound with pneumonia, suffering from chronic pain, and only being able to walk a few steps.
The reason behind the cut, which also saw her housing benefit and council tax stopped, was because she did not attend a work capability assessment.
But the devastation, which saw her turn to a food bank for help, was too much to bear for “beautiful” Jodey, and she killed herself on February 21, 2017.
This week, a second inquest held into her death found she took her own life after having her benefits wrongly cut, with this being described as the “trigger” to her taking her own life.
And while the decision will never bring Jodey back to her mother Joy Dove, it meant one thing; ‘Justice for Jodey’ at long last.
Here, we look back at how the tragedy sparked eight years of tireless campaigning from Joy for “answers and accountability” over her daughter’s death.
Jodey “stood out from the crowd”.
As a mother and grandmother-of-six, her family was her life, and her dad Eric said she would “always put others before herself”.
“She loved to wear bright colours and jewellery”, he said. “She had the biggest blue eyes, and the personality to match. She always put others before herself.”
And she was the “perfect daughter” to mum Joy, who described her as the “most caring person ever” and someone who would “do anything for anyone.”
“We were so close, and I miss her so much”, she said. “I know she loved me, and her babies, as she called them, her children, all nine of them.”
She was even described as being like the “pied piper”, as she always had children around her who adored her, and would “help anyone in need”.
But throughout her life, Jodey suffered from chronic pain, having been told she was suffering from curvature of the spine in her teens.
And by the end of her life, she was housebound, and could barely walk to the door, while also suffering from poor mental health.
She developed a drug dependency and, in her final few months, she faced a battle with pneumonia, a time when doctors also found a cyst on her brain.
And it was during this time, in January 2017, when Jodey got a letter from the DWP.
The letter asked why she had failed to attend a benefits assessment - but she was not aware there had been an appointment in the first place.
It turned out that, while Jodey was in hospital in December 2016 after contracting pneumonia, she had missed a letter about her benefits, saying she needed to be medically assessed.
Joy promised to help her sort it out - but on February 6, she received another letter saying she had provided no good reason to miss the assessment and was therefore considered fit to work.
This meant her benefits, including housing benefit and council tax, would stop.
“Mam, what am I going to do? I can’t breathe, I can’t walk”, Joy recalled Jodey saying.
Joy then rang the DWP to try and sort the issue and even went to the job centre, but to no avail. When she told Jodey, she was met with a “very different kind of distress”.
Joy said in a previous statement, read out at Teesside Coroners’ Court this week, that she was “shaking and crying”, had “had enough” and had “lost hope”.
And in February 2017, around two weeks after her benefits were cut, Jodey took her own life.
‘I have had enough’
Jodey’s family members tragically found her following her death, where they also found several heart breaking notes.
The messages talked about not being able to pay her bills and having no food, with one note even concluding with the phrase: “debt, debt, debt”.
What followed her death was eight years of fighting by her mother and family.
Joy said she was sure that the stress of losing her benefits was the trigger for her to decide to kill herself, and fought for a second inquest after the initial one in 2017 concluded after 37 minutes and heard no evidence relating to the DWP.
Joy challenged the coroners’ service for more than four-years to discover the role of the DWP in her death, taking her fight all the way to the Court of Appeal.
She was finally successful in winning a second inquest, which took place at Teesside Coroners’ Court on Monday, June 2.
There, Helga Swindenbank, director of disability services at the DWP, said the DWP accepted all the findings of an Independent Case Examiner (ICE) report.
This report found five missed opportunities to avoid significant errors.
Ms Swindenbank, who was not in post at the time of her death, told the court that DWP was “deeply sorry and regretful” for the failings.
And, as Senior Coroner Clare Bailey read out her conclusion while two pictures of the beloved mum sat beside her, it meant one thing. Justice for Jodey was done.
Her death was officially ruled as suicide “in the context of a deteriorating mental state, precipitated by the withdrawal of state benefits”.
Outside the court, there were mixed emotions for Joy.
Happiness, that her eight-year fight had proven successful. But sadness, that it could never bring Jodey back.
“I’m over the moon for her. It won’t bring her back, but obviously it is helping others. It is like taking it all in”, she explained.
“What today proved was that the coroner understood. They all knew and listened to what the DWP’s failings were. At the end of the day, I am as happy as I can be.”
Joy’s story of “perseverance, resilience and dignity” has gone on to inspire millions, making national news headlines as she continued to campaign for her daughter.
And as she stood outside the court, hugging a photo of her daughter at her first holy communion, it was a reminder that she was simply a heartbroken mother.
A mother who had lost one of her beloved children far too young. A mother who now only had sentimental items, pictures, and memories to hold onto.
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But there was one message from her late daughter, written on a Mother’s Day card, that stayed close to Joy’s heart, so much so that she read it out in court.
It was no doubt touching then - but now, after eight years of fighting for justice, has an even more powerful meaning.
“Mam, you are my legend, my hero, love you always, Jodey.”
If you are in need of support you can contact the following:
- Samaritans is available, day or night, 365 days of the year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
- If U Care Share on 0191 387 5661 or text IUCS to 85258
- SANE on 07984 967 708, Calm on 0800 58 58 58
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