Robert Philip Longcake, known as Phil, was deeply troubled by a police decision not to prosecute the sexual abuse allegations in the months before he climbed Dixon’s Chimney in Carlisle on 27 October last year, his inquest was told on Monday. Longcake’s family told the Guardian in December that the 53-year-old had become depressed and withdrawn after disclosing that he had been sexually abused on a regular basis as a child in the early to mid-1970s. Police, firefighters, mountain rescue teams and the coastguard were involved with the operation to try to rescue Longcake. Longcake had attempted suicide in August and earlier in October, she said, describing him as “a good man, a good husband, a good father and a good grandfather” who had never done anything wrong until this year. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808-801 0331.

Source: The Guardian March 23, 2020 17:26 UTC