Martin Hadfield, 20, is said to have refused benefits while he desperately searched for work since he was made redundant in April last year. But despite applying for around 40 jobs in the space of three months, he failed to get any response for almost every application. The rejections have been blamed on employers choosing less-skilled and cheaper workers and Martin increasingly felt disillusioned about his future.Just 24 hours after a Job Centre meeting, he was found by his flatmate hanged in their home in Tottington, Greater Manchester. An inquest today confirmed the cause of his death as suicide.
His mother Annie, a former prison officer, put Martin’s death down to “a tragic moment of madness” as he was not able to discuss his problems.
Martin left school with GCSEs and achieved NVQ qualifications as well as working as a car valet and a landscape gardener. He found it difficult to adjust to life without working and earning his own money.
Peter said: “Martin was heartbroken by it and heartbroken every time he walked passed the gardens he used to tend and see them in disrepair. He took such pride in his work. He wasn’t fussy, he would have taken anything just to be working and on the employment ladder. But I have heard from so many people that the job centre experience is very demoralising. The bureaucracy is ridiculous.”
Peter added: “Martin never claimed any money or benefits in his life as parents we could help him out until he got on his feet. He got nothing off the government and was proud not to. He hated the idea of going to the job centre because he had heard what so many other his age had said. Many people go in with a sense of self-worth – they really do want a job – but come out feeling demoralised and putdown.”
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