Fire chief took own life after harassment - inquest

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 istration), 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, itted he had started an MBA but had not finished it and apologised for putting it on his CV.

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":[]}