Army veteran who became HGV driver found dead in back of lorry

A ‘friendly’ and ‘outgoing’ HGV driver and Army [1] veteran was found dead in the back of his lorry in a Lincolnshire lay-by, an inquest heard. Dad Drew Howe, 26, from Stockport, was discovered in the trailer of the Scania vehicle on the A18 [2] in Lincolnshire on October 19 last year, reports Manchester Evening News [3]. Paramedics raced to the scene, but sadly he could not saved.

An inquest into Mr Howe’s death concluded he took his own life. The coroner who presided over proceedings will write to a mental health [4] trust raising concerns about patients’ experiences after saying Mr Howe must have felt as though he was ‘passed from pillar to post’ as he tried to get help. Mr Howe’s sister Keata told the hearing her brother would ‘do anything for anybody.’ “He was friendly, he was kind, he was outgoing,” she said. “He would help anyone.

He just always seemed happy.” Mr Howe joined the Army in 2015, before being posted to the Queen’s Royal Hussars the following year. He was never deployed operationally abroad, but spent four years in the forces before his discharge in 2019.

He received hospital treatment after having a ‘breakdown’ while in the forces and told later told professionals he believed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as anxiety and depression. No formal diagnosis was ever made. Following his discharge from the Army Mr Howe, who was living in Brinnington, in Stockport, at the time of his death, began working as an HGV driver, travelling all over the country, but particularly the north east. “He loved trucks and loved that life,” Ms Howe said, adding that he had mentioned his boss was planning on making him a manager and giving him more responsibility, with a view to potentially taking over the business.

The inquest heard there was a ‘dramatic deterioration’ in his mental health last summer. He told family members he was feeling depressed, his sister said, while also seeking help from mental health services in Stockport. The hearing was told there were ‘at least two other occasions’ when he had been taken to hospital in Lincolnshire after ‘reporting intentions to take his life’. “Just a few months before he did what he did he came out and told us he was feeling depressed and he needed help and we did what we could to help him,” Ms Howe said, fighting back tears in the witness box.

“But he never talked about what he was going through,” she added. “I never saw him as having depression. “Every time I saw him he seemed dead bubbly, he was always laughing and joking around. He was a joker.”

Following a consultation with his GP in August last year, Mr Howe was referred to what was then Healthy Minds service for potential talking therapies. The inquest heard staff deemed him to be ‘not stable enough’ for such therapy and referred him to the access team run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation trust, based at Stepping Hill hospital, which assessed him on October, 13, six days prior to his death. At that stage, he was ‘exhibiting no obvious or avert signs of mental illness’, and, following a consultation with a psychiatrist, nurses referred him on once more, to a specialist Military Veterans Service run by the trust.

Mr Howe was awaiting an assessment at the time of his death. A referral was received eight days after his death. He was discharged by the access team without a formal diagnosis or treatment plan being drawn up, the hearing was told.

The inquest heard no notes were found at the scene. Police coroners’ officer Alison Catlow said no notes, photographs or messages that ‘gave any indication’ of his intentions were found on his mobile phone. Ms Catlow said she had since learned there was an ‘update’ posted on Facebook which appeared to ’cause some concern’ and prompt some of his friends to message him, but that none of these responses appeared to have been opened or read by Mr Howe.

Toxicology tests found there was an ‘extremely low’ level of alcohol – and no illicit drugs – in his system. The pathologist concluded his cause of death was ‘suspension by ligature around the neck’. An investigation by Humberside Police concluded there were no suspicious circumstances or third-party involvement.

Assistant coroner Chris Morris recorded a conclusion of suicide following the inquest at South Manchester Coroners’ Court in Stockport on Tuesday (April, 25). “This is a very sad case indeed,” he said as he described Mr Howe as a ‘ very much-loved and highly thought of person’. He said he believed Mr Howe was someone who ‘put a brave face on things’ and that ‘the evidence demonstrates it must have been no small thing for him to start to confront the difficulties he was facing; his low mood, his anxiety, and his struggles’.

He said it was most likely Mr Howe’s ‘circumstances didn’t fit neatly within the paradigm in which services were being offered, adding: “I can only imagine he felt passed from pillar to post having recounted his difficulties on a number of occasions.” Mr Morris said there was an ‘absence of critical analysis’ in an investigation report carried out by Pennine Care particularly around ‘the delivery of services from patients’ perspective’ and their ability to ‘navigate services.’ And he described it as a ‘missed opportunity’ to learn all available lessons. He will now write a prevention of future deaths report to Pennine’s Chief Executive setting out his concerns in full.

Following his death, tributes flooded in for popular Mr Howe. Close friend Adam Bellis told the Liverpool Echo: “I met him about two and half, three years ago. “I just met him through the trucks basically.

We parked up in the same place one night and the lads I was with at the time that I knew, knew Drew and he just came to the pub with us all and it went from there. “We hit it off and became best mates.” Adam added Drew, who is also said to have lived in Widnes, was ‘more like a brother’ and ‘would do anything for you and go out of his way to help you.’ “It’s such a shock to us all because he was such a bubbly character and he was dead lively all the time” he said. Scores of other people paid tribute on social media and over GBP 15,000 was raised to help support his family and young son.

References

^ Army (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
^ A18 (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
^ Manchester Evening News (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^ health (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)
^ ‘I’ve never held my breath like that’ – mum’s horror of Ingoldmells caravan fire which killed toddler (www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk)