An adored dad-of-four who was "crying out for help" tragically livestreamed his own suicide on Facebook, causing a disturbed viewer to dial 999 to phone for help, an inquest heard. Paul David Hilton, 34, was found dead on April 30 in his home in Bolton after he broadcasted himself taking his own life.
A ''number of friends and acquaintances'' helplessly watched him carry it out over the stream, the Mirror reports. One of his horrified friends informed the emergency services and paramedics raced out to the property on Tennis Street, arriving shortly after 7am.
The stream kept airing as paramedics forced themselves into his home but the by the time they got in, Mr Hilton was ''beyond resuscitation'' and was tragically pronounced dead. Mr Hilton who's been described as a "loving father" had been battling mental illness as well as his addictions with drug and alcohol abuse for a number of years and a coroner ruled his death as a suicide after he intentionally recorded himself taking his own life.
He said that it was particularly "unusual" and "alarming" that Mr Hilton had chosen to '"set up and orchestrated the scene to make sure his final moments were livestreamed." He also added that it was obvious that Mr Hilton was '"crying out for help" and that his distressed family "want to know if more could have been done to help him".
Throughout his history of mental illness and addiction battles, Mr Hilton had been referred to the community based addiction team, Achieve, in the summer of 2021 but was discharged a short while later due to his "unwillingness and inability to engage with them". He was also admitted to hospital in January last year for reportedly self harming, but was discharged only a day later and referred back for treatment and monitoring in the community.
Three weeks prior to his death, he had a telephone consultation with mental health nurse, Jaclyn Pickup, who works at his local GP surgery. She revealed that he had admitted to self-harming a few weeks earlier but agreed to restart his medication that he had skipped for around a week and had and that he had "clearly indicated he didn't feel suicidal".
His mother, Carol said her son had been struggling for a while and that his mood was '"up and down" for about 12 months before his death. She added: "There have just been so many times. We felt like, ‘what is it going to take to get him that help'?"
The two-day inquest heard evidence from two of Mr Hilton's heartbroken friends who viewed the awful live stream on April 30. Lewis Morrison said he had awoken early on the day of his mate's death to discover that Mr Hilton had "gone live" on Facebook, thinking it would be some sort of "amusing" joke as "Paul was funny".
The Police Coroner's Officer, Juliann Hyde who interviewed Mr Morrison told Bolton Coroner's Court that when he "realised what he was going to do he began to panic" and frantically woke up his girlfriend telling her to call the emergency services. A handwritten note was discovered in Paul's home and he also posted a comment on his broadcast, which officers are taking as an "expression of his intent", the inquest heard.
The police investigation has come to an end after they concluded that there were was no third party involvement or suspicious circumstances.
Speaking about her eldest son, heartbroken mum Carol said: "Paul's passing has left our family devastated. He was my first born son and big brother to Anthony, Paula and Emma. A loving father to four beautiful children. He was adored by so many people.
"Not just family, he had many, many friends, some of them over 30 years from primary school. Then Paul lost his nan in 2011 and this is when his mental health battles began as they had such a close bond he took her passing very hard. As we are (taking) his now. We love him so much and will miss him eternally."
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