Emotionally abusive partner took his own life, inquest hears

A troubled and emotionally abusive dad who told his partners that he would kill himself if they left him later took his own life at home, an inquest has heard. Wayne Alexander Macleod Gunn, an offshore oil rig worker, was admitted to North Devon District Hospital in February this year and a hearing into the 44-year-old's death was held in Truro today.

It was heard how the proud Scotsman, who lived in Bude, met his first partner while she was a student in Cornwall. The pair hit it off, but the relationship, which bore two daughters, was rocky, and his partner at the time, Claire Hughes, ended it on several occasions, only to return to Wayne.

In 2006, as Ms Hughes moved to Exeter to start her university degree, he surprised her by driving all the way down from Edinburgh. In a statement read out in court, Ms Hughes said that Wayne sent her messages that he would kill himself if she didn't stay with him as he wanted to be with her.

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She said: "I was upset that he was threatening to do this. But I never believed that he would carry it out." She told the inquest that the pair got back together but Wayne would at times be jealous of both her male and female friends. She said they got back together as she thought he was willing to change.

However, after she fell pregnant in 2007 and they moved into a flat together in Falmouth, Wayne continued to put emotional pressure on her, saying that if she left him, he would kill himself.

In her statement, Ms Hughes said that she tried to leave him again and went to stay with her parents but in 2009 decided her daughter needed to have a good relationship with her dad so Wayne and Ms Hughes moved back in together the following year and bought a property in Scotland.

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As an offshore worker, Wayne was away a lot. Again Ms Hughes tried to leave him but he convinced her to stay, often threatening to kill himself if she left him. Ms Hughes finally left him for good with their two daughters in 2015 and last saw him two years later.

In her statement, she told the court that Wayne could drink to excess and be reckless. She added that he had used the threat of suicide as a power play.

The inquest heard how Wayne continued to use the threat of killing himself while in a relationship with another partner, Amy Sales. In a statement, she told the court how Wayne had been home for several weeks after a stint away for work, but the pair had a falling out in the days before he tried to take his own life.

She said that he asked her to leave the house they shared in Bude and that he had suicidal thoughts. She said: "I spoke to my parents about what he was saying. I said he needed to get professional help." She said they remained in contact throughout the week as they tried to patch things up but she said that at times it was like a switch went on in his head and his personality would change with mood swings alternating between asking her to leave and begging her not to.

She told the inquest that the pair met during the Covid pandemic on an online dating site. She said Wayne could have very low moods and would at times struggle to balance life at home with being away for work for so long. Ms Sales said Wayne didn't have any friends outside of work and could be a loner.

The inquest was told that despite advice to seek help and support for his mental health from his GP and other organisations in Cornwall including for his drinking, Wayne never did and was not known to any of them.

On the evening of February 16, Ms Sales said she heard Wayne in the garage and thought he was doing some DIY which he had been known to do at odd hours. After discovering him hanging, she called 999, and paramedics arrived quickly and carried out CPR on him. They managed to stabilise Wayne enough to take him to Bude's nearest hospital in Barnstaple. His health sadly deteriorated and Wayne died of a hypoxic brain injury on March 3.

In her statement, Ms Sales said that Wayne had told her he felt really suicidal and she asked him to seek professional help. She added: "He would say I was his best friend but he was like a big weight on my shoulders. He was emotionally blackmailing me. He was a troubled person with too many issues that no one else could sort out for him.

"Wayne would not seek professional help. He wasn't the most amazing person on the planet but he would do anything for anyone. He was a good mate and I loved him. His death has left a massive hole in my life."

Assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Emma Hillson, recorded a conclusion of suicide, saying that on the balance of probability, Wayne took his own life and intended to do so.

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