Such a tragic case. Wayne’s sister revealed at an inquest how ‘he was becoming a shell of his previous self and felt that he didn’t want to be a burden on anyone’
15:35, 04 Feb 2026Updated 15:39, 04 Feb 2026
Longreach House mental health unit in Redruth (Image: Google Streetview)
A patient at a mental health hospital died on the 20th anniversary of his wife’s death so their children would “only have to grieve one day a year”, an inquest tragically heard.
Wayne Schofield was discovered dead in his room at the Longreach House mental health hospital in Redruth on January 8 last year.
An inquest into the death of the 52-year-old heard how he was sectioned by Devon and Cornwall Police under S136 of the Mental Health Act on December 30, 2024 after he was discovered on a bridge over the A30 having taken an overdose of drugs with a view to take his own life.
Originally from the Liverpool area, Mr Schofield, a former MoD security guard who also served in the Royal Navy, had faced many traumatic personal challenges in his life before moving to the Roche area of Cornwall near St Austell.
It was after a cycling accident that his heart issues were discovered which led to a pacemaker being fitted in and also led to multiple visits to hospital for heart problems.
In 2024, a cancerous tumour was discovered near Mr Schofield’s heart which was so serious it prevented further operations being carried out to his heart.
The one-day jury inquest heard how it was his declining physical health and incurable cardiac disease which led to his mental health taking a turn for the worst.
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A report from his GP in Roche said Mr Schofield had expressed suicidal ideation on several occasions and did not want treatment for his heart but wanted “nature to take its course”.
Yet over the months, Mr Schofield seemed to change his mind about taking his own life and wanted instead to get back in the military or work in security at the MoD.
Mr Schofield’s sister Emma Hare told the hearing held in Truro today (Wednesday February 4) that he had loved his time in the Royal Navy as a young man but had been devastated to have to stop his career abruptly for family reasons.
She said her brother was always in and out of hospitals because of his heart condition but it was the discovery of the cancerous tumour above his heart that led to his mental health taking a nose dive.
Ms Hare said it was then that her brother started talking about taking his own life but also not wanting to go back to Liverpool to be closer to his family who could support him.
“It was a massive shock to find out he had died,” she said in a report read out in court. “It was a shock but it wasn’t. Wayne told me so many times that he wanted to take his own life but I never really believed that he would do it.
“His mental health had been really bad. I believe he chose that day, the 20th anniversary of his wife’s death. He told me that this way his children would only grieve one day of the year.
“He knew what he was doing. He was becoming a shell of his previous self and felt that he didn’t want to be a burden on anyone. When his mind was set on something, nothing would have stopped him.”
Health care staff at Longreach House who worked on the day of his death and carried out CPR on him alongside paramedics for more than one hour, told the inquest how Mr Schofield had expressed suicidal ideation but always said he would take his own life by escaping from the ward and taking his own life away from the unit.
They said they were aware of the stressors the anniversary of his wife’s death were putting on him and put in place extra steps to make sure he could not escape.
They said they felt Mr Schofield, who was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder brought on by a history of trauma, had studied the pattern of patient checks to ensure staff were not around when he did take his own life.
PC Paul Hulme who attended the hospital on the day said that while Mr Schofield had said he would “climb over the garden wall, abscond and shoot himself with a gun”, staff had put steps in place to prevent him from doing so by locking up access to the garden.
They also identified a high risk of violence if he were restricted so no additional patient checks were put in place. They said Mr Schofield had been checked over by staff at normal regular intervals including at 1am. However he was discovered lifeless during the following check at 2am.
No third party was found to have been involved in his death. No suspicious circumstances were also been found in his death.
An internal investigation led by the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Barncoose Hospital in Redruth, carried out an internal investigation into Mr Schofield’s death to what steps could be taken to improve patient care and safety at the unit.
The jury returned a conclusion of suicide.
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