Inquest hears tragic case of Wigan dad whose body was found at the same spot where his sister died

An inquiry into the tragic case of Shaun Houghton, 35, heard the dad of two had a history of mental health problems, which were exacerbated when his 17-year-old sister Charlotte Guy died in September 2017.

Their mum Deborah Guy told the hearing at Bolton Coroner’s Court her son was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 21 and suffered from anxiety.

But the tipping point had been the death of his sister Charlotte, with whom he was very close.

Mr Houghton, who was an electrician, had been a regular patient at Atherleigh Park mental health facility in Leigh, but discharged himself shortly before his death.

In the early hours of December 1 last year, Mr Houghton, of Drummond Square, Worsley Hall, had been sending text messages to both his mum and his long-term partner Leanne Cunliffe.

Mrs Guy said: "There was no indication he was going to harm himself and he was talking about Christmas trees."

However, subsequent text messages left her feeling concerned enough to contact police to report Mr Houghton as missing.

The messages led officers to Duke's Barn Farm, on Brook Lane, Orrell, where they found Mr Houghton’s body at the site of a memorial set up after his sister’s death at the same remote location five years earlier.

Mrs Guy said: "Shaun would go regularly to the tree where his sister died to talk to her."

His partner Leanne, with whom Mr Houghton had a seven-year-old child, told the inquest "he would get angry" about his sister's death.

Andy Pickles, a police coroner's officer, confirmed Mr Houghton was found hanged.

A post-mortem examination found a combination of drugs in his system, made up of prescribed medication and cocaine.

The coroner adjourned the inquest to Friday, May 26 so he could hear evidence from mental health practitioners.

The inquest into Charlotte’s death in January 2018 heard the St John Rigby College student had taken cocaine while under the influence of alcohol before her body was found.

She had broken up with her boyfriend just days earlier and sent him a goodbye text message before she died.

Recording a narrative conclusion, Alan Walsh – the same coroner presiding on the inquest into Mr Houghton’s death – said her judgement may have been impaired after she had taken the drug, perhaps for the first time, in the "chaotic" last 48 hours of her life.

He told the court that "her intentions were unclear" at the time of her death.

Mr Walsh said: “I accept at the time she may have been under the influence of cocaine and some of the effects of that may have changed her behaviour and may have changed her state of mind.

"I believe she was a troubled young lady. The effect it will have on her family and friends is beyond imagination.”

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