Corner concerned about suicide spate

A coroner is writing to House of Fraser voicing a family's concerns after a mother leapt to her death from the eighth floor of Beatties car park in Wolverhampton.

Carol Ann Fletcher was the latest in a series of suicides from the city centre multi-storey.

The former care worker had recently split up with her partner of 10 years, Leonard Stockton, although they still shared the same house in Woodfield Road, Penn, an inquest heard.

She was seen to disappear over the ledge above School Street by shopper Rita Griffiths, as she got out of her car on the eighth storey just before noon on December 9.

An officer who was called to the scene found a suicide note beside her. She died of multiple injuries.

Beatties' senior sales manager Louise Dickie saw Mrs Fletcher look over the ledge, as she parked her car before starting her shift.

She thought Mrs Fletcher was going in to the store but minutes later Mrs Griffith glimpsed the 66-year-old dive from the ledge, she told the Wolverhampton inquest.

Mr Stockton said his former partner had told him just a week before her death that she had been prescribed tablets for depression, but had not been taking them.

The inquest heard that Beatties had given over the top two floors of the 11-storey block into staff-only parking and introduced more security patrols.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Black Country coroner Richard Allen believed it was difficult to see what further steps Beatties could have taken to prevent the death.

But the coroner did agree to write to the company to express the family's concern.

Afterwards daughter Deena Fletcher said: "We just don't want anyone else to suffer the grief we have."

Today House of Fraser spokeswoman Clotilde Gros revealed a number of security measures had been imposed and added that they would look at further options.