Heartbroken mother, 36, took her own life saying she ‘wanted to be with’ son, 17, who hanged himself four weeks earlier after break-up with his girlfriend, inquest hears

A heartbroken mother took her own life just four weeks after her teenage son hanged himself following a break-up with his girlfriend, an inquest heard.

Harriet Belmore, 36, was devastated after her son Charlie Belmore-Hawkes, 17, was found dead in woodland near their home on October 2 last year.

She repeatedly refused mental health treatment, despite overdosing on drugs and alcohol five days after her only child died.

The laser aesthetics technician who had spoken of ‘wanting to be with her son’ was found hanging at her home in Taverham, near Norwich, Norfolk, on October 31.

The tragic story of their deaths emerged during separate inquests held just minutes apart at Norfolk Coroner’s Court in Norwich.

The inquest into Charlie’s death revealed that he had had an argument with his girlfriend of three years just days before his death.

Detective Inspector Matthew Hendry, of Norfolk Police, said the row broke out after he attended a music festival with an ex-girlfriend.

He and his girlfriend had an argument and she eventually told him she wanted to take a break, he said.

Charlie, who had recently started as an apprentice bricklayer, was found hanging in a wooded area near Eastfields in Taverham just days later.

Mrs Belmore, who was separated from her son’s father, told police afterwards that she had never seen Charlie so depressed as he followed the argument.

Det Sergeant Hendry said in a report at Charlie’s inquest: ‘Both sides of his family were loving, responsible people who clearly loved him very much.

‘He was clearly having a lot of trouble with it and his mother and father had never seen him so low before.’

Writing a narrative conclusion, Norfolk’s senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said Charlie “took his own life, but the evidence does not reveal his intentions at the time.”

A separate hearing was told that Ms Belmore had been admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for an accident and emergency treatment following an overdose of drugs and alcohol on October 7 last year.

Hospital staff initially recommended that she undergo a mental health assessment, but this did not take place after she told a member of the mental health liaison team that she wanted to be discharged.

Miss Belmore was then referred to the crisis team at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

Team members visited her at her mother’s home on October 11, but she again made it clear that she did not want to receive any support, the inquest heard.

Two days later she was released from crisis services.

Melissa Moss, a crisis nurse from NSFT, said in a statement read out to the court that Miss Belmore had told the team she was doing ‘fine’ and found offers of support ‘patronising’.

Ms Moss said she then spoke to Miss Belmore’s mother Frances and provided contact details for the team and other support services available.

But Miss Belmore was found unconscious in her home on October 31 and was pronounced dead at the scene despite CPR.

Mrs. Lake concluded that Miss Belmore had died by suicide.

The coroner said: ‘She self-discharged from hospital on October 7 and has had no contact with mental health services or her GP since.

‘She kept asking how she would cope without her son – and said she wanted to be with him again.’

The inquest heard that Miss Belmore was on good terms with her son’s father, despite their separation.

The medical cause of death of Miss Belmore and her son was listed as pending at the inquest.

Michael Belmore, Miss Belmore’s lawyer, also died in tragic circumstances in 2007 when he drowned at the age of 53 while on holiday in Crete. He had founded Belmores Solicitors in Norwich in 1981.