Fire chief took own life after harassment - inquest

Wayne Brown died in January 2024

A fire chief took his own life because he "couldn't take it any more" after months of alleged harassment and questions over his qualifications, an inquest has heard.

Wayne Brown, chief fire officer at West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS), was found dead at his flat in Birmingham by police on the morning of 24 January last year.

Mr Brown had been under scrutiny from colleagues over claims he had lied on his CV.

His partner, Nicola White, told the first day of the inquest on Monday that attention from the national press was the "final straw".

Birmingham Coroners' Court heard that in the days before his death, an internal investigation had been launched at WMFS into a claim Mr Brown had lied about having an MBA (Master of Business Administration), a requirement for chief fire officers.

Satinder Sahota, monitoring officer for WMFS, said Mr Brown, who had been in the role permanently since April 2023, admitted he had started an MBA but had not finished it and apologised for putting it on his CV.

Mr Brown's son said his death had left "a void" in his family's lives

Ms White said her partner was clearly "low" about the ongoing investigation, but when a national news outlet ran a story about him, "He just couldn't take it anymore. I said, 'Wayne, you need to speak to someone,' but he didn't like to show his weaknesses."

She added: "On the Tuesday... I did think to ask him, 'You're not going to do anything silly, are you?' But I put that thought immediately out of my head because I thought he would never do that."

Ms White said her partner did say that he felt supported by the fire service.

However, Mr Sahota said Mr Brown was a "private and stoic" man who did not seek the support from occupational health colleagues that he was urged to take during their meetings.

On one occasion, days before he died, Mr Brown told Mr Sahota that he was feeling under pressure, was exhausted, was struggling to sleep and had "racing thoughts".

Mr Sahota told the inquest: "My view at the time was that he was saying he was okay. I urged him to reach out to occupational health.

"I had to be careful with Wayne... I didn't want to annoy him; it was quite clear he was private, and he was the most senior person in the organisation, and I didn't want to be disrespectful of that because it would affect my relationship with him going forward."

Deputy fire chief Joanne Bowcock said in a statement that she recognised Mr Brown was under pressure but that she never considered he would take his own life.

And added he appeared to be coping well, but when speaking to him on 18 January, he told her he had had "the worst two weeks of his life" and feared he would be suspended.

'Loved and respected'

Det Ch Insp Jonathan Kiteley of West Midlands Police told the court Mr Brown was also "frustrated" that a court date for a man charged with harassing him had been pushed back.

"I had no idea he would go on to take his own life, but I could tell the constant barrage of contact was getting to him," said Mr Kiteley.

The charges against the man were dropped following Mr Brown's death.

Senior coroner Louise Hunt, who presided over the inquest, said Mr Brown had died as a result of suicide and indicated she would be writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to WMFS to raise concerns.

She said the fire service did not undertake any investigation following Mr Brown's death so lessons could be learnt and was concerned that there was no policy requiring them to do so.

Mrs Hunt was also concerned that there appeared to be no mechanism for recording concerns raised about the welfare of staff during a fact-finding or formal investigation and that there was no provision in the service's health and wellbeing or mental health policy for employees as senior as Mr Brown was.

In a tribute, Mr Brown's son Kai said he was "loved and respected", had many friends and was their "shining star".

He said: "We will be forever proud of him, and he leaves a void in our lives which will never be filled."

The inquest continues.