Northumberland Royal Mail postwoman took life after office sexual assault

This article contains distressing details and references to suicide

A postwoman took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a colleague and managers failed to take appropriate action, a coroner has found.

Carly Wealleans, 30, was on the phone to a Royal Mail boss when she died at her home in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, in March 2022, the county’s coroner heard.

Her GP said the only stress in Ms Wealleans’ life was the anxiety caused by being sexually harassed by Michael Stewart at Morpeth Delivery Office, and her unhappiness with the response from bosses.

Royal Mail managers said Ms Wealleans’ death had been a “wake-up call” and apologised for failures to “protect” her.

Stewart, from Amble, was jailed for six and half years in January for offences against five women including sexual assault, exposure and harassment, with the Newcastle Crown Court judge saying Ms Wealleans’ death was a “direct result” of the postman’s actions.

Ms Wealleans, a keen boxer who had served in the Army for four years, first complained about Stewart on 6 April 2021, saying she had been subjected to “unwanted sexual banter and comments”, the inquest at County Hall in Morpeth heard.

In response, managers said they had a “stern word” with Stewart who apologised to Ms Wealleans, but he also claimed he had been told by bosses they did not want to lose him as he was a good worker, which left her feeling confused and unsure of who to believe, coroner Andrew Hetherington heard.

There were no further complaints recorded by bosses at Morpeth until November 2021, but Royal Mail operations manager Scott Kippen said that did not mean none were made.

Ms Wealleans, who went on to raise a formal grievance, later said Stewart had exposed himself and sexually assaulted her, with Stewart being allowed to resign in November 2021, the inquest heard.

Both Royal Mail and Northumbria Police began investigations into the allegations, but Ms Wealleans told her GP, Dr Janan Swinghurst, she was not happy with the progress they were making.

She went off work with stress in December 2021 and had regular contact with Dr Swinghurst, who prescribed anti-depressants, signposted her to mental health support and provided a sick note until April 2022.

Before December 2021, Ms Wealleans had no “significant” contact with her local health service although had experienced mental health issues before, the coroner heard.

She was taken to hospital in Cramlington after taking an overdose in January 2022 but in the weeks afterwards seemed happier after getting a puppy, the inquest heard.

Dr Swinghurst last spoke to Ms Wealleans on 10 March, the day before she died.

The GP said Ms Wealleans was “quite distressed the work situation wasn’t progressing well”, adding: “There was nothing going on in her life other than stress at work.”

Mr Hetherington asked the GP if she believed the deterioration in Ms Wealleans’ health was due to her work situation, to which Dr Swinghurst replied: “Completely.”

A pathology report said Ms Wealleans had a “history of anxiety and depression” for which she was on medication for at the time of her death.

Her cause of death was concluded to be hanging, with Ms Wealleans dying during a “panicked and distressed” call to a Royal Mail HR manager, the report said.

Mr Kippen and Royal Mail’s interim chief people officer Kieran Judd both apologised to Ms Wealleans’ family for the firm’s failure to “protect” her.

A subsequent independent investigation of Royal Mail’s action found multiple failures in the Morpeth office, including that the company had “not created a working environment that matched the expectations of a modern workplace”, the inquest heard.

Other issues included a “comprehensive lack” of note-taking and record-keeping, and managers and staff not understanding the concept of consent or having the skills to properly investigate such serious allegations.

Mr Judd said Ms Wealleans’ death had been a “significant wake-up call” and major changes had been made, although improving would always be an ongoing process.

He said steps taken to “change the culture” included:

• Mandatory training for all staff around sexual harassment, which had been completed by 99.7% of the company’s 130,000 employees
• Improved note-taking with all claims to be properly recorded
• Reporting methods changed so serious allegations go directly to a central team rather than local office managers
• Revamped whistleblowing processes
• Clear and robust wellbeing support for employees which was proactive rather than reactive
• Help and advice around mental health and suicide awareness, including warning signs to spot in others

“We were severely lacking and there were shortfalls and I apologise for that,” Mr Judd said, adding: “We are on an absolute journey trying to do the right things.”

Concluding Ms Wealleans’ death was a suicide, Mr Hetherington said she had been experiencing “significant difficulties in the workplace” after receiving “inappropriate and unwanted conduct” from a colleague.

He said she made a formal complaint and lodged a grievance but her concerns were “not adequately addressed” which left her distressed and unsupported, leading to a “substantial and escalating impact” on her mental health.

Mr Hetherington said Royal Mail accepted it had failed in its duty of care towards Ms Wealleans and the coroner was satisfied “lessons had been learned”.