Inquest findings into death of Castlecaulfield man due next month

AN inquest into the death of a prominent member of the arts community in Donaghmore nearly four years ago has been told that senior social workers visited both him and his family just weeks before he took his own life.

Dalglish Heatherington (46), who lived in Castlecaulfield had been made aware at the time of an allegation made against him.

The alleged incident was said to have occurred 24 years previously, but the complaints had only recently been made to the PSNI.

On Thursday, senior social workers with the Southern Trust gave evidence about their contact with Mr Heatherington in the weeks prior to his tragic death on January 21, 2019.

They said that they had been notified by the PSNI in October, 2018, about the allegations, but it was just before Christmas on December 20, 2018, when a meeting with him finally took place. An earlier letter had been sent to Mr Heatherington by Social Services, but to the wrong address.

The Social Workers described both Mr Heatherington and his partner as being ‘co-operative’ and that he also expressed concerns about perhaps having to inform his employer of the allegations and wanted time to consider this.

“We recognise that there have been delays and that an earlier time in hindsight would have been preferred,” said Bronagh Anderson, one of the social workers who made submissions.

“He (Mr Heatherington) was quite calm and open in our discussions and open to our understanding of why we were involved.”

Another senior social worker involved in the case criticised the PSNI for failing to provide sufficient information about the nature of the allegation which had been made against him.

Marcella Leonard told the Inquest into the death of the 46 year-old that there had been an allegation and complaint, but then a delay in the PSNI informing Social Services. This, she added, resulted in social workers having to work with limited information.

She said that the PSNI could have assisted more effectively, and additional information could have better informed any safeguarding decisions which social services were required to make and a better understanding of the risks or otherwise that they were dealing with.

The inquest heard that Mr Heatherington visited his GP and was prescribed medication just days prior to his tragic death in 2019.

During the appointment he had expressed anxiety regarding the allegation.

Donna Murphy, a senior social worker with the Southern Trust said she accepted that there was a ‘significant delay’ following the completion of a ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ (ABE) interview by the PSNI.

Although she was not directly involved in the case, she said it was her view that it should have been escalated to senior levels of both the PSNI and Social Services.

The Inquest was also told that a family member of the alleged victims had confronted Mr Heatherington over the allegations around eight years prior to 2018.

Madam Coroner, Maria Dougan, has now adjourned the Inquest until next month. She thanked all the witnesses who had given evidence and said she would be delivering her findings on Friday, December 2 at Laganside.