Islington News - John Keaney | Hanged | Arundel Square

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Islington Tribune - by SIMON WEBB
Published: 13 February 2009

‘Little risk of suicide’ man found hanged

AN ENGINEER with a history of depression and social isolation hanged himself just days after social workers said there was “very little risk” of him taking his life, an inquest heard yesterday (Thursday).
John Keaney, 57, was found hanged at his flat in Arundel Square, Barnsbury, on November 18 last year.
Police had forced entry to the property after a concerned carer who had not been able to get in contact with Mr Keaney for two days raised the alarm.
Janet Eweko, a social worker for Islington Council, told St Pancras Coroner’s Court that Mr Keaney had been “low in mood for quite some time”.
Ms Eweko said support workers would visit him twice a day, adding: “It had always been a longstanding issue that he would not let carers in or answer his phone.”
The court heard Mr Keaney had become increasingly concerned about being sectioned by his carers, even though a social worker from the Camden and Islington Foundation Trust had concluded 10 days before his death that he presented “little risk” of suicide.
Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Dr Andrew Reid said Mr Keaney’s isolation had given him “the opportunity to harm himself... and end his own life.”

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