Smoker bullied to death
Dad, 50, bullied to death
February 3, 2006
GUY PATRICK
A DAD killed himself after being bullied at work for two years, an inquest heard.
Anthony McDermott, 50, left a letter explaining his factory floor ordeal before hanging himself.
He worked for the same firm for 14 years but the hearing was told that at the end he found a bullying campaign "soul destroying and demeaning".
The final straw came when a colleague took a photo of him having a cigarette outside the factory, which operates a no-smoking policy.
The father of four was said to have been ridiculed after the picture was circulated on the firm's computer network.
He complained to his manager but was issued with the firm's first warning for breaching the no-smoking policy.
Coroner John Pollard read a short extract from the handwritten note found in Mr McDermott's shirt pocket following his death.
It said: "The reason for this is for the last two years I've been bullied at work by management and this includes a photo of myself being taken."
No one from the company - metal detector maker Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd, Salford, Gtr Manchester - gave evidence at the Stockport inquest.
But a spokesman insisted: "We don't tolerate bullying."
Mr McDermott's daughter Victoria, 25, said: "I would like to see the people who bullied my father brought to justice." Verdict: Suicide.
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