BBC actor hanged himself because he was jobless during lockdown

An actor, Luke Westlake, 26, who appeared in BBC crime drama 'Luther' alongside Idris Elba hanged himself while out of work during the first Covid-19 lockdown, an inquest into his death has heard.

After graduating from one of the UK’s top drama schools in 2017, the actor went on to appear in Luther and BBC dramas Doctors and No Offence.

But an inquest heard today, January 29 revealed that during the first national lockdown in 2020, the actor was stressed about being out of work and was suffering from a long distance relationship breakdown.

Luke tried to take his own life in April and again in June, the assistant coroner heard.

Just over a week after the first attempt in June, Luke messaged his ex-girlfriend,

Hannah Llewelyn.

In the text he threatened to kill himself.

On the morning of June 18, he was found dead.

The cause of death was concluded as hanging following a post mortem examination, and a toxicologist discovered a substantial amount of THC in Luke’s body, a sign he took a lot of marijuana.

The inquest revealed that Luke was seeking therapy for childhood abuse, in the weeks leading to his death.

His request for therapy was denied as the therapist first wanted to first deal with his drug and alcohol issues.

Appearing via video link, Dr John Pimm, a clinical lead for Oxford Health NHS foundation trust said: “If someone is using, it will be very problematic for them to have that treatment.

“You should try to deal with the drug and alcohol problem and stabilise it for a reasonable amount of time. The key issue is that in trauma therapy, you will delve into very distressing things from someone’s past - in order to do that they need to be in a really good place. If you have not done the pre-work it is very risky, it is like going into surgery without the pre work.”

Assistant Coroner Michael Walsh, concluded the inquest with a verdict of suicide.

He said: "Luke was aged 26 years at the time of his death. He had a history of anxiety and depression and substantial misuse by way of alcohol and cannabis, used as a coping mechanism."

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