Man who died after climbing country’s tallest chimney had suffered child abuse

A man who died after climbing to the top of one of the country’s tallest chimneys, was suffering a “mid-life crisis” after disclosing abuse he had suffered as a child, his estranged wife has told an inquest.

Cemetery worker, Phil Longcake, 53, died in October after scaling the 290ft Dixon’s Chimney in the centre of Carlisle.

The grandfather had been under the care of a mental health crisis team and had made an unsuccessful attempt on his life just a week before climbing the chimney.

An inquest into his death heard how he had also left his wife, Andrea, for work colleague, Heather Wilson, just days before his death.

In a statement, Mrs Longcake, said she believed her husband was suffering a crisis as he struggled to come to terms with memories of childhood abuse he had only just revealed.

Both Mrs Longstaff and his new partner were involved in a desperate search for the father of two, after he disappeared on the afternoon of Sunday October 27th last year.

That night Mr Longcake, who had worked since 2004 at Carlisle Cemetery, drove his van to the chimney – the height of Big Ben – and pushed open an insecure gate.

He then climbed a ladder up the side of the structure which was in place for engineering works, the hearing was told.

The first sign that anything was wrong came when groaning was heard from night-shift workers at a Royal Mail sorting office opposite the chimney.

Mail worker Michael Swinglehurst said: “Myself and my colleagues could hear groaning which came and went. There was nothing verbal, it was intermittent.” 

At 2.20am on Monday October 28th the workers had still not been able to identify where the groaning was coming from in the darkness and they called the police.

A search of the area discovered Mr Longcake was trapped by one leg hanging upside down from one of the top rungs of the ladder, which had partly come away from the wall and was hanging to one side.

Chief Inspector Terry Bathgate, who led the rescue effort, told the hearing that he had thrown down his shirt and was believed to be suffering from hypothermia as he hung from the ladder by the laces of his shoe.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw told the Carlisle hearing: “He was literally hanging by a thread.”

Mrs Longcake said that in the months leading up to his death her husband had “started with what seemed like a mid-life crisis.”

She said: “It was as though he wanted something but didn’t know what it was. In August 2019 he started talking about historic abuse and he was referred to the crisis team.”

In October Mrs Longcake also found her husband was having an affair.

She told the hearing: “I found out he had been sleeping with Heather over the last few weeks.”

Mr Longcake left the marital home in Carlisle, and moved into Ms Wilson’s home.

Mrs Longcake told the inquest: “On October 25th he messaged me asking if I was going to be in. He said he was disgusted with what he had done and had no answers for it. I told him I was going to start divorce proceedings.”

She said that throughout their marriage he had not mentioned the abuse he claimed he had suffered as a child, but made disclosures in 2019, which were reported to the police.

The hearing was told he had been upset when Cumbria Police told him they were not able to make progress with the case.

Mr Longcake’s son Robert told the hearing: “He had been struggling over the last few months since he had opened up about being abused, it was always on his mind and would tell me he could not stop thinking about it.”

The inquest was told of two previous suicide attempts made by Mr Longcake, the first in August last year when he took an overdose of tablets.

Then on October 19th he drove to the village of Sebergham, near Carlisle, and set fire to barbecues in the back of his van in an effort to suffocate himself.

His new partner, Ms Wilson, told how he called her during the attempt on his life.

She said: “Phil called me on WhatsApp. He was in the back of his van with the barbecues burning. He said he loved me and he was sorry. I was screaming to him to find out where he was. He said ‘you know where I am, I’m sorry, I love you.”

Mr Longcake was rescued from the van in the village where he and Ms Wilson had previously visited to go on walks.

He recovered but a week later he climbed the ladder up the chimney, where he remained for 15 hours until his body could be recovered in one of the largest rescue operations the city has seen.

Horrified local people began to gather under the chimney as daylight revealed Mr Longcake hanging above the city from its tallest structure.

When police reached Mr Longcake he was still alive, conscious and able to respond to his name the inquest was told.

Chief Inspector Bathgate said two potential methods of rescue were discussed – to send a mountain rescue team up the ladder behind him or to rescue him from the air using a coastguard helicopter.

However the ladder was too unsteady on the wall, putting both Mr Longcake’s life and those of the rescuers in danger.

It was also discovered that the ladder was so unsafe that the downdraft from the helicopter might be enough to dislodge it.

Eventually a 90 metre cherry picker was found in Glasgow and sent to the scene in the hope it could be used to get close enough to remove Mr Longcake from the structure.

However, by that time in the afternoon of October 28th, police had formed the view that Mr Longcake had died.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw recorded a narrative verdict, ruling that Mr Longcake died either by throwing himself from the top of the chimney and becoming snagged by his boot from the ladder’s top rung, or by slipping accidentally.

He said Mr Longcake had a significant amount of alcohol in his bloodstream but had shown no signs of intoxication prior to climbing the chimney.

He said he may have taken alcohol with him – possibly a bottle of whisky – and paused at the top of the chimney to think as he drank it.

He then either leapt or slipped and the spike at the top of the ladder went into his tightly laced boot, leaving him hanging upside down, Dr Shaw said.

Mr Longcake went up the chimney with the intention of taking his own life, but he may have reconsidered and been trying to come back down so the coroner said he could not find that he committed suicide.

Dr Shaw said: “Death was due to inverted suspension. He deliberately placed himself in a position of extreme peril with the intention of taking his own life but it cannot be known whether he did so or slipped accidentally.”

The cause of death was found to be a combination of hypothermia and cerebral swelling from hanging upside down.