Andrew Pickering inquest: Yorkshire paramedic and ex-RAF policeman took his own life after being dismissed from his job

Andrew William Pickering, 57, was found dead by a colleague in the garden of his home in Pateley Bridge on February 3 last year, following a disciplinary hearing the previous day which had resulted in his dismissal.

An inquest held at North Yorkshire Coroner’s Court was told that Mr Pickering was taken to Harrogate Hospital just hours after the panel’s decision having taken an overdose, but was deemed ‘medium risk’ by the mental health crisis team, who believed he had no further intentions to harm himself. He was discharged to remain in their care through follow-up appointments and allowed to return home alone.

His ex-wife told the inquest that they had been married for 27 years, having met when he was posted to Gibraltar with the RAF Police. They had two children, but their relationship suffered after he was deployed to Afghanistan soon after his son’s birth in 2007, when British casualty rates were high and the conflict was ‘intense’. Mrs Pickering said: “He came back a different man. He was never quite the same and he withdrew from the family.”

Mr Pickering left the RAF and joined the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in 2009, but the couple separated and divorced in 2021. He had regular contact with his teenage son and daughter.

His brother Richard described Mr Pickering as a keen sportsman who played rugby and cricket, and who was well-liked and popular while in the RAF. The family suffered tragedy when their elder brother Robert died in a motorbike accident when Andrew was a teenager, and when he was in his mid-20s their father died suddenly.

Richard Pickering said: “He was a hardworking man with an exemplary, unblemished record. He had had some difficult family issues. He did not deny the charges against him.”

The inquest heard from mental health nurse Ben Wilson, who saw Mr Pickering after he was admitted to Harrogate Hospital. He was willing to engage with the crisis team, but was described as ‘guarded and distracted’ and in shock over the loss of his job. Mr Wilson said: “He said he had been desperate to get back to work and had had that taken away. He lived alone and did not have much support or involvement with mental health services. He didn’t want to fully discuss his difficulties, but he said he had been taken off his duties (ahead of the disciplinary hearing) which he did not think was acceptable, and that he felt numb.

"He answered questions and was willing to talk. He said he had not made specific plans to kill himself because of the effect on his family. He agreed to treatment, called the overdose a ‘kneejerk reaction’ and said he was aware of the devastation it could cause. He said he had a group cycling trip booked and no intentions to harm himself, so we classed him as medium risk. We agreed to contact him later that day to arrange an appointment.”

Under the treatment plan, Mr Pickering would have been seen daily for at least the following three days, but staff made four attempts to call him on February 3 and he did not answer.

Mr Wilson added that Mr Pickering had said full admission to hospital would not have been ‘helpful’ to him, and he did not meet the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act.

His friend and colleague Jonathan Mellor went to his home just before 1pm on February 3, but could not revive Mr Pickering. Police found a note in the house which stated his intentions to take his own life.

The inquest also heard from two Yorkshire Ambulance Trust senior managers, deputy head of operations Rachel Pippin and head of employee relations Alison Cockerill, about the disciplinary process Mr Pickering had been subject to.

Mrs Pippin confirmed that after the investigation into his conduct began in August 2021, he was assigned a welfare officer who could support him, refer him to occupational health and answer questions about the process. However, this contact was then taken over by Mr Pickering’s team leader, as by then he had taken sick leave.

Richard Pickering asked her if issues in his brother’s personal life had been known to colleagues, and Mrs Pippin said that it was ‘difficult to balance patient confidentiality’ when staff had been involved in treating a colleague’s family member. Andrew’s managers were informally checking up on him, but no concerns about his work had been raised at this point.

Asked about changes the Trust had made to HR practices since Mr Pickering’s death, Mrs Cockerill said processes around the ‘risk to an individual’ had been updated to become more employee-centric and that they would be included in the dialogue. In Mr Pickering’s case, he had taken sick leave because he was ‘emabarrassed’ to take on alternative duties when it was felt there was no need to suspend him, and Mrs Cockerill said it was now accepted that such an arrangement would not suit everyone.

She added that the hearing would not have gone ahead if occupational health had advised against it, but that all parties were keen for it to be concluded quickly.

Richard Pickering also raised concerns that during the hearing, ‘grossly offensive’ phrases were used by Trust staff on two occasions which compared his brother’s case to that of Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard.

Assistant coroner Jonathan Leach recorded a conclusion of suicide.

After Andrew Pickering’s death, Richard brought an employment tribunal against Yorkshire Ambulance Trust for unfair dismissal for gross misconduct, the judgement of which has since been published. The documents detail that Richard’s claim was that mitigating circumstances, such as Andrew’s marital breakdown, has been overlooked in favour of aggravating features in the case.

The allegation was that in May 2021, Andrew Pickering had met and casually conversed with a woman while they were walking their dogs in Ripley, near Harrogate. Around a month later, he was called out to attend a 999 call at a house in Harrogate where the woman lived. She was classed as vulnerable due to mental health and alcohol abuse issues. He later wished to contact her to find out how she was, and through Linkedin they exchanged phone numbers. They began a ‘friendship’ over Whatsapp, but Mr Pickering later admitted that it had become a sexual relationship. In August, another 999 call was made from her home, and though two paramedics were sent, Mr Pickering also turned up in uniform, his colleagues initially believing in error. A friend of the woman questioned both his presence at the house and his relationship with the patient, and his conduct was then reported.

However, Judge Chapman KC upheld the Trust’s decision, agreeing that the patient could be classed as ‘vulnerable’ and that a ‘reasonable’ investigation had been conducted with appropriate consideration given to mitigating factors.