Firefighter off work with stress killed himself the day he got a letter saying his sick pay was being cut

A firefighter took his own life on the day that he received a letter telling him his sick pay was being cut, an inquest heard. Steven Anthony Morgan, from Burnley, who was also a dad-of-two, was signed off with work-related stress from his position as Assistant Chief Fire Officer at the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in June last year, Lancs Live reports.

This came after he took up the role in April, after the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, where he had worked for 21 years. The 49-year-old had gone off work sick but his mental health continued to decline.

In December of last year, he received a letter stating his sick pay was being cut and later that same day, he was found dead near Clowbridge Reservoir in Burnley.

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An inquest on Monday (March 28) heard that police found a note in Mr Morgan's pocket. It was also told that he said he had been 'overwhelmed' with things happening at work and had contacted a crisis team after having thoughts about self harm.

GP Kelvin Wilkinson, of the Burnley Group Practice, said in a report to the coroner that Mr Morgan had visited the surgery on a number of occasions in the weeks before his tragic death. "Steven consulted with me on the last two occasions; the primary reason was due to his mental health," the GP said. "It was stress-related.

"He said on September 11 that he was feeling overwhelmed with things that had been happening at work. He was struggling with some issues he hadn't spoken about to other people and he had started to see a counsellor.

"On September 27 he talked about stress at work and he said he had thoughts of self-harm and had