Family of Barnsley farmer share concerns after inquest

The Star, Sheffield

The family of Barnsley farmer Johnathan Charleswort spoke to The Star about their dad, his life, and what changes they'd like to see made after an inquest ruled he took his own life.

Transcript

00:00So how does it feel that the inquest are now finally done?

00:03It's a relief in many ways.

00:05It was just nice that the coroner agreed with what we already knew,

00:10that my dad would have still been here if it hadn't been for the frightening impact

00:17that the inheritance tax on farms could have brought.

00:20And if it wasn't for that, it'd still be here.

00:22To hear the coroner actually read that out and agree with us,

00:26we'll never take away our loss.

00:27You know, we'll miss my dad every day for whenever more.

00:30It was a huge, huge part of our life that's missing now.

00:33But to get the recognition from the coroner that it happened,

00:39for the reasons we have been saying it's happened, is definitely a relief.

00:44And if you had to summarise your dad and who he was in a short sentence,

00:50how would you say it?

00:51I know you've talked a bit about him being fun but also being grumpy.

00:53I think he was a typical type Yorkshire farmer but very generous,

01:00generous with his time, generous with his emotions.

01:04He wouldn't spend a penny unless he needed to.

01:07But, you know, he was the best dad he could ask for.

01:11He taught me everything kind of.

01:13And just before the cameras started rolling,

01:16you said that this is kind of like doing the three peaks to raise money for charity after

01:20and you're trying to make a change for other farmers who might be in the same situation.

01:24What would you like to sort of go out there to other people who might be worried to other farmers?

01:29Well, initially we didn't really want to publicise what had happened

01:33and then we realised that we could turn it into some good.

01:35So we went public and we basically want to build awareness,

01:43build awareness, hopefully get the government to listen

01:45and stop anybody else going through this awful situation that we've gone through.

01:51It may have been the first but it won't be the last unless something's not done.

01:56This will happen over and over again because the government has basically incentivised suicide.

02:04Suicide is the only way to avoid it in some respects

02:08and the government have incentivised that now.

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