Former mayoress 'lost the will to live' and killed her dogs before ending her life three months after husband's death

A devoted former mayoress who was overwhelmed by grief after losing her husband ended her own life three months later, an inquest has heard. Delyse Critchley spent close to two months on a mental health ward after self harming and killing the couple's two dogs days after her husband's death, Bolton Coroners Court heard.

The 68-year-old then attempted a fatal overdose within 48 hours of being discharged from the unit, before ending her own life a month later. Giving a conclusion of suicide today (March 22), coroner Timothy Brennand said the devoted Mrs Critchley had 'lost the will and appetite to live' after losing husband Norman to prostate cancer.

Mr Critchley had served as a Conservative councillor for Bromley Cross for more than 30 years before becoming an honorary alderman, and spent a year as Bolton's mayor in 2009-10, while Mrs Critchley was his mayoress. The court heard that her step-daughter Janet Davies, who lives on the Wirral, had been unable to contact her in the days following her father's death on January 4, 2021.

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After being contacted by Ms Davies, police entered Mrs Critchley's home and discovered she had self-harmed, and that the couple's two dogs had been killed. Mrs Critchley was taken to hospital and admitted to the Oak Ward, at Royal Bolton Hospital's Rivington mental health unit.

Ms Davies told the court that Mrs Critchley had asked her to make preparations for her husband's funeral at this time, but she did not attend it as she was 'not well enough'. Dr Akila Jayasekera, a consultant psychiatrist at Royal Bolton