WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Gemma Freeman, 45, was found dead at her home in Darwen on March 24 this year. An inquest heard she left letters saying she intended to take her own life ‘because of Alan’
A beloved Darwen mum who took her own life had previously been told to kill herself by her estranged husband, an inquest heard as relatives alleged he had mistreated her.
Gemma Freeman left behind letters stating she planned to end her life ‘because of Alan’, a coroner was told. The 45-year-old encountered partner Alan Cooper at The Millstone in Darwen in 2010. Within a year, they became engaged while holidaying in Portugal.
They wed at St Peter’s Church in October 2012 and between them had three children, a coroner was told. The pair shared a new-build property in Maple Mews. During an inquest into Ms Freeman’s death at Blackburn Town Hall, area coroner Kate Bisset heard testimony from relatives. The couple’s relationship was characterised in court as ‘toxic’, reports Lancs Live.
The inquest heard they split in November last year. On March 21 this year, they arranged to meet to discuss divorce proceedings. Social worker Ms Freeman, 45, ‘walked away’ when they couldn’t reach an agreement, the court heard.
The coroner was told Ms Freeman’s mother Sheila Brooks received a telephone call from her daughter’s employer three days later after she failed to log on for a shift.
Mrs Brooks said that was ‘out of character’ and that she ‘just knew something was seriously wrong’. She tragically discovered her daughter hanged at her home.
She had left Easter eggs for relatives and letters in which she said she planned to take her own life ‘because of Alan’. Mrs Brooks stated: “It was a toxic relationship. He had been abusing her and I recognised it as psychological abuse.”
Lucy, Ms Freeman’s daughter, revealed that Mr Cooper had on at least one occasion told her mother to ‘kill herself’. She further added: “I saw what he did to her, he regularly abused her and it broke her.”
Ms Freeman’s sister Vicky shared: “He would turn off the WiFi and the gas when he went to work. In November 2025 she showed me pictures of bruising to her ear and head and said Alan had shoved her.”
The inquest heard that in a message sent to her sister towards the end of their relationship, Ms Freeman expressed: “He doesn’t give a s*** about the damage he is doing as long as he gets to keep control.”
The court was informed that police initiated an investigation following Ms Freeman’s death. Mr Cooper was interviewed under caution, the coroner was told, as detectives considered the potential offence of manslaughter.
Detective Inspector Mark Reid informed the inquest: “One element of the case was about Alan’s conduct. There was a question of whether that was criminal conduct.”
Referring to notes left by Ms Freeman, coroner Ms Bisset commented: “The notes that Gemma left, certainly in her mind, attributed the relationship to the cause of her death.”
The coroner further added: “[Her death] would have to be foreseeable to the person perpetrating that abuse.”
Lucy, who described her mum as ‘stunning’, said: “There was a terrible example of that when he told her to kill herself in no uncertain terms.”
It was eventually determined the evidence ‘did not cross the criminal threshold’, DI Reid said. Ms Freeman’s relatives said that decision was presently subject to a ‘right to review’.
In a statement Mr Cooper, who was present at the inquest, said: “Our relationship was, on the whole, good but it went from one extreme to another and there were bad times which were unbelievably bad. She was highly strung and I’m stubborn. I regret that stubbornness now.”
Recording a conclusion of suicide, the coroner told Ms Freeman’s relatives ‘the best justice for Gemma is for [them] to live happy lives’. “She herself attributed the relationship and its breakdown to her death,” Ms Bisset said.
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