THE daughter of an international chess champion who took his own life questioned why no “serious action” was taken to help her father.

There was shock following the death of Winston Williams, 62, in July last year. He was a well-known West Yorkshire chess player and junior coach, who founded Bradford’s ‘Chesstival in the Park’ and was highly-regarded because of his passion for the game.

In a tribute following his death, Ihor Lewyk, organiser of Bradford and District Chess Association, and Tim Wall, who played on a chess team with Mr Williams, said: "A thoroughly lovely chap whose passion for chess was contagious. He was well loved in local leagues and will be greatly missed.”

  • Obituary: Bradford Chesstival founder Winston Williams was well loved on local and international chess scene

Mr Williams tragically died on July 29 last year, after falling from a building in Bradford city centre, suffering multiple injuries. 

An inquest into his death, held virtually at Bradford Coroners’ Court, heard details of the difficulties he had been suffering prior to his death and his struggles with loneliness and isolation. He had also been diagnosed with a condition called Korkasoff Syndrome, a type of alcohol-related brain damage. 

In a statement read out to the court, Mr Williams’ daughter said his marriage had ended in divorce.

She said that in winter 2019, she was trying to organise some help for her father, but was ultimately unsuccessful, and it was thought it would be sensible if he was sectioned as he was “clearly at risk of hurting himself”.

But, she said when this was suggested to police or mental health teams, no action was taken.

“Why, after repeated warnings, was no serious action taken?” she asked and said that towards the end of his life he had begun drinking quite a lot of alcohol “in order to numb the pain”.

The inquest heard Mr Williams had extensive contact with a number of emergency and community services, including A&E departments, police, First Response, My Wellbeing College, community mental health teams and Lynfield Mount Hospital, due to low mood, loneliness and suicidal thoughts, from January 2019.

There were instances, where under the influence of alcohol, Mr Williams made threats to kill himself or expressed a wish that other people should kill him, the coroner said.

In February 2020, he was taken by police to Lynfield Mount Hospital under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, but no evidence was found of an acute mental illness, so he was not admitted. 

It was recommended a Care Act assessment be carried out and the inquest heard it was Mr Williams’ wish that he needed to live where there were other people, but it was recommended he stay in his own home and be supported to feel safe. 

Coroner Angela Brocklehurst highlighted he fell outside a specific mental health diagnosis, did not qualify to be sectioned under the mental health act and did not qualify to receive the kind of housing he perceived to be necessary. 

“This man fell through lots of gaps in the social and medical structures that should have supported him,” she said.

Mr Williams’ care co-ordinator Chris Browell told the inquest that he had visited Mr Williams in the week prior to his death and that his presentation at emergency services had reduced significantly and from that, he believed the support was having a positive impact.

He said Mr Williams did not seem as distressed as he had done, but continued to talk about wishing to live in a care home, or somewhere where was other people. 

However, on July 29, he took his own life. The inquest heard there was only a low level of alcohol in his body - below that of the drink drive limit 

A Serious Incident Report by the Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust found there had been multi-disciplinary working, but there was a missed opportunity for services to come together at an earlier stage and work on an approach that would have helped Mr Williams, but the Covid-19 situation made it difficult to facilitate face-to-face contact. 

Mrs Brocklehurst ruled Mr Williams died as a result of an act of suicide, but is to ask the care trust how could his death have been prevented; what could have been done and what will be done to prevent it from happening again. 

She said he “fell through lots of cracks” and that such a death should not happen again. 

A spokesperson for the care trust said: “We investigate all serious incidents to identify any learnings and areas where we may need to make further improvements. 

"Whilst there was clear evidence of good practice including multi-disciplinary working, proactive support from a range of areas including our crisis care service and the care co-ordinator, there was potentially a missed opportunity to bring the different organisations together earlier, to agree how we could collectively provide further support. 

"We are committed to providing high quality care for individuals and work is already underway to address the areas identified in our investigation to improve communication with other services, to support those in our care.”

If you are feeling suicidal you can call the Samaritans free at any time on 116 123.