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CSA demands 'led to suicide'

Stan Miller and Yakub Qureshi
30/ 6/2005

A DESPERATE father was driven to suicide by the demands of the Child Support Agency, an inquest was told.

Leigh Eglon, a hospital operating theatre nurse, was left with just £10 to live on in one week after making payments to the CSA for his three children, it was claimed.

The 41-year-old injected himself with a fatal mixture of drugs at his Manchester flat in August last year.

Speaking at the hearing, his fianc'e Christine Allcock claimed Mr Eglon, who worked at Oldham Royal Hospital, was driven to despair by the support payments.

"The CSA were bleeding him dry - and they are to blame for his death," she said. "They were taking so much money he couldn't meet his other commitments."

Mr Eglon, who lived on Smallridge Close, Miles Platting, had three children with his wife Connie. The couple separated in 2001 after ten years together. They divorced shortly afterwards and Mr Eglon began facing demands from the CSA.

Miss Allcock, who was engaged to Mr Eglon, told Manchester coroner Leonard Gorodkin that in one week during the Christmas period of 2002, her partner was paid more than £500, but he was left with only £10 by the time his support payment and tax were deducted.

Miss Allcock, who also works as a nurse, said she had talked Mr Eglon out of ending his life when he could not afford to buy Christmas presents for his children aged nine, 11, and 13 or afford to go to see them.

"He was just unable to cope any longer," added Miss Allcock, who discovered her partner's body at the city flat they shared.

She said that he told her: "I am tired of this world. The b******s cannot get me when I'm gone." Speaking after the suicide verdict, Ms Allcock said she had run up debts of £2,000 while supporting her partner financially.

She said: "When I first met him he was working as an agency nurse and it was quite good money. Quite often, he would work 40 hours a week - but would have £50 left over after tax, national, insurance and the CSA took a chunk. He tried to explain the situation, but the problem I found with the CSA was lack of communication between the departments. It was either a different department or computers were down or they couldn't find the records."

Ms Allcock said that Mr Eglon's payments had been reduced after he complained to the agency, but the couple were still struggling to overcome debts caused because of the previous deductions.

She also said that Mr Eglon, a former serviceman in the RAF, had missed payments to his family in the past, which he had been paying through the agency since 2001.

Mr Eglon's father, Derek, told the inquest his son was being "drained" by the CSA who wouldn't listen to him.

He said: "His other debts were mounting and it was like climbing a greasy pole. Many people have died because of the incompetence of the CSA system and it was a major factor in my boy's death."

The coroner recorded a verdict that Mr Eglon took his own life in August last year.

Under current agency guidelines, parents with three dependent children usually pay 25 per cent of their gross salary in support.

The Department of Work and Pensions, which operates the agency, suggested additional arrears payments have accounted for higher deductions being made.

A spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. The Child Support Agency has a responsibility to ensure both parents support their children financially."

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