'You have blood on your hands': Woman kills herself after ex boss wrongly claimed she'd been sacked

A woman committed suicide after she found out a job offer was wrongly revoked after her new employers were wrongly told she had been sacked from her previous job.

Caron Flitcroft had looked set to become manager of a school in East Manchester, only to be rejected after her former employers claimed she had been sacked due to "gross negligence". The 57-year-old was left distraught by the news and, after failing to find another job, took her life on the 12th anniversary of her husband's death.

Last August, Flitroft was found hanged in her garage at her home in Grotton, near Oldham, Greater Manchester, along with a suicide note, in which she accused her previous employers of "having blood on their hands".

"You have blood on your hands - enough is enough, no more," she wrote.

However, police have since discovered that while the victim had been investigated for possible fraud, she had never been found guilty and had been planning to deny any wrongdoing.

"Caron had been under investigation for an offence of fraud since December 2015 which caused her anxiety and stress," Detective Sergeant Jason Byrne from the Greater Manchester Police said during the hearing.

"Police found a note next to Caron which read 'You have blood on your hands, enough is enough, no more'. That note was identified as Caron's handwriting."

The court was told Flitcroft, who had a Masters degree and who studied French and German, had begun to suffer from work-related stress following the death of her ski instructor husband John in 2005 and was prescribed anti-depressants.

During the hearing, her partner Mark Armitage said Flictroft was allowed to take three months off work in early 2015 on medical advice, when she became "incredibly stressed" after the police launched its investigation.

Armitage added Flictroft was a "very caring, loving, considerate and selfless person" who was always happy to go "the extra mile" for those around her.

"She was a very positive person to be around, there was a very sensitive side to her," he said.

"She loved her work with a passion, would go the extra mile and had approximately 70 people working with her. She achieved the objectives year in year out.

"More privately, she would not necessarily share her problems because she felt they would be a worry to somebody else. She would often take other people's problems on. No doubt that would have taken its toll sometimes, with the demanding job she had."

Between June and July last year, Flitcroft was then offered the post as general manager of a school in East Manchester.

"The offer was made and her previous employer sent a note to say she had been sacked for gross negligence which was not true and of course that offer of employment was immediately withdrawn," Armitage added.

"That had a large effect on her confidence. She didn't get any other offers. She was trying every option she could to find work. I feel this would have taken its toll on her confidence and well-being."