The words ‘stand up to bullies’ were written on the wall of a workplace canteen where a father of one took his own life, an inquest at Dublin Coroner’s Court has heard.
Stephen Taylor (43), from Ashbourne in Co Meath, was employed as a park ranger by Fingal County Council. He was discovered at the council’s depot at Coolmine, Co Dublin at around 11.30pm on March 4th, 2017 and later pronounced dead.
The father-of-one had been working that day but family raised the alarm when he failed to return home.
Carmel Taylor, Mr Taylor’s wife, said he was a man who “hated lies and stood up for the truth”. He had taken two weeks off due to work related stress during December 2016.
Mrs Taylor said her husband talked about workplace bullying in a note he left for her.
“None of it was a surprise to me. It had gotten worse,” she said. “That morning he went out the door and I never saw him again.
“I know he didn’t do this to hurt us. I think he was driven to it. I wonder did something happen that day that pushed him over the edge?”
Witness Pierce Keogh said he met Mr Taylor in Millennium Park, Coolmine at around 10am that morning.
‘Tracked’
“He felt isolated. He would make friends and then find they didn’t want to be seen talking to him. He thought he was being tracked,” Mr Keogh said.
The family phoned the council’s out-of-hours service when Mr Taylor failed to return home by 7.30pm. Their message was conveyed from a call-centre to council depot foreman Alan Carroll.
Mr Carroll phoned his supervisor, who lived close by, and asked him to come with him as “it’s a big yard”.
Ciaran Rooney, the supervisor, said he entered the canteen and saw the words ‘stand up to bullies’ written in graffiti on the wall before discovering Mr Taylor.
He said the Tetra radio system used by park rangers has a tracking device, which is a health and safety mechanism that allows park rangers to press an alert button to call for assistance. He said these devices are monitored by two different companies.
“There’s no live feed but we can go back and check it,” he said.
Asked what information CCTV footage at the yard revealed on the day of Mr Taylor’s death, Mr Rooney said he did not know because he did not look at it.
Asked why, as a supervisor, he did not view the footage, Mr Rooney said he was not asked to.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane adjourned the inquest to October 15th when evidence will be heard from other witnesses.
If you have been affected by issues in this report, you can contact these support services.
Samaritans: Dial 116123, text 087-2609090, or email jo@samaritans.ie.
Pieta House: Dial 1800247247, text ‘HELP’ to 51444, or email mary@pieta.ie.
Aware: Dial 1800 80 48 48, or visit yourmentalhealth.ie