A coroner has ruled that a 27-year-old Nigerian care worker died by suicide after struggling with mental health issues she linked to a dispute with her local council. Beatrice Solomon, who came to the UK on a skilled worker visa in November 2023, was found unresponsive at her home in Stanfield, Stoke-on-Trent, on March 4, 2026.
The case highlights the pressures faced by migrant care workers and raises questions about how local authorities handle disputes that may affect vulnerable individuals.
A Year of Struggle
Solomon was discovered by her husband, Damian Butler, at their home on Norris Road. Emergency services pronounced her dead at 6:21 pm that day, with the coroner identifying the cause of death as oxygen deprivation.
Evidence presented at the inquest, which concluded on July 14, 2026, showed that Solomon had been experiencing mental health difficulties for around a year. Her husband told the court these struggles were connected to an ongoing issue with Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The specific nature of the dispute was not detailed in proceedings, but the coroner noted that Solomon had made two previous attempts on her life before the fatal incident.
Wider Pattern of Systemic Failings
The ruling comes amid a series of recent inquests that have highlighted failures by organisations to protect individuals in distress.
The day before the Solomon verdict, Coroner Adela Williams ruled that bookmaker William Hill had contributed to the suicide of Gareth Evans, a 40-year-old man from Croydon with a gambling addiction. Evans had withdrawn more than £35,000 from a cash machine near a betting shop over six months. The coroner found that a lack of intervention by the gambling firm contributed to his death in November 2021.
On the same day as the Solomon ruling, a jury retired to consider its verdict in the inquest of Emily Moore, an 18-year-old who died in 2020 at Lanchester Road Hospital. The case has raised concerns about care transitions, as Moore had been moved to an adult ward just days before her death.
Questions Over Safeguarding Protocols
The coronial system has also recently examined how police handle domestic safeguarding applications. Bedfordshire Police defended their response to a Clare’s Law application involving Suseel Rana, who died by suicide in May 2024. A coroner had expressed concerns that officers mistakenly believed the law — which allows individuals to ask about a partner’s history of domestic abuse — did not apply to former partners. The force said it had followed established policy but would reinforce safeguarding standards.
In a separate criminal case on July 14, Michael Thompson was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his estranged wife, Kimberley Thompson. The defendant had staged the scene to appear as a suicide in August 2025, but a post-mortem and subsequent investigation led to his conviction for murder and perverting the course of justice.
