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| 'Bedroom tax' lorry death was suicide, coroner rules | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A woman took her own life by walking in front of a lorry on a motorway after leaving a note blaming government benefit changes, a coroner has ruled. | |
| Stephanie Bottrill, 53, from Solihull in the West Midlands, died in May last year after walking on to the M6. | |
| Her family said she had been worried about how she would afford an extra £20 a week as a result of changes to her housing benefit. | Her family said she had been worried about how she would afford an extra £20 a week as a result of changes to her housing benefit. |
| Mrs Bottrill's brother said she had tried to kill herself before. | Mrs Bottrill's brother said she had tried to kill herself before. |
| She lived alone in a three-bedroomed house and would have had to pay a spare room subsidy, branded the "bedroom tax" by critics. | She lived alone in a three-bedroomed house and would have had to pay a spare room subsidy, branded the "bedroom tax" by critics. |
| 'It's my life' | |
| In her suicide letter, Mrs Bottrill told her family she could no longer cope. | In her suicide letter, Mrs Bottrill told her family she could no longer cope. |
| "It's my life, the only people to blame are the government," she wrote. | "It's my life, the only people to blame are the government," she wrote. |
| Solihull Council had offered Mrs Bottrill another property to live in about six miles away and she was considering whether to move there at the time of her death. | Solihull Council had offered Mrs Bottrill another property to live in about six miles away and she was considering whether to move there at the time of her death. |
| A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "This is a tragic case. Our sympathies are with her family. | |
| "There are often complex reasons as to why people may commit suicide and we would not comment further." | |
| Samaritans told BBC News "although a catalyst may appear to be obvious, suicide is seldom the result of a single factor or event and is likely to have several interrelated causes". |