A picture of Crook Coroner's Court and, inset, Craig Skillen
An inquest at Crook Coroner's Court found Craig Skillen died by suicide
A loving dad "born and raised" in Newcastle's West End took his own life after struggling with alcohol, homelessness and chronic pain for many years.
Craig Skillen, 35, was a devout Newcastle United fan who followed the Toon to Wembley for the 2023 Carabao Cup final. He died on November 13 last year, but his name lived on as his beloved NUFC finally got their hands on the cup this year - as the Consett Mags group took down a flag with his name on it.
Craig had joined the army straight from school, but his time in service was short-lived as he suffered a debilitating back injury during training and was medically discharged. Paying tribute to his "cheerful" and caring nature, sister Kerry told ChronicleLive how he then spent much of his life struggling with chronic pain and was "in and out" of a wheelchair.
Kerry was speaking following an inquest into Craig's death that took place at the County Durham Coroner's Court in Crook last week. At the inquest, assistant coroner Dr Leslie Hamilton found Craig's death had been suicide. The coroner heard how Craig had struggled with alcohol and this had caused problems with his relationship.
In the year prior to his death, he had spent time homeless and in temporary accommodation after his landlord sold his home in January 2024. He had previously attempted suicide, but friends, family and mental health services believed he was feeling better - and he had recently moved into a new home in Consett, where he died.
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However, the coroner heard how in the week before he died Craig had lost his job. Kerry paid tribute to her brother, saying: "He was born and raised in the West End, in Elswick and Benwell. He joined the army straight after leaving school but was medically discharged during training - so that was short-lived unfortunately. It was devastating for him - it had been what he really wanted to do.
"He had been carrying heavy equipment during training. It left him with a lasting back injury and he spent much of his life after that in and out of a wheelchair.
"Craig was always, always cheerful and the life and soul. He would help anybody - anybody who needed help, he would be there. He loved the Toon - and had been a season ticket holder almost his whole life.
Loving dad and NUFC fan Craig Skillen who died in November 2024 (Image: Skillen family)
"But he was also a dad and loved being a dad. Two years ago, he and one of his sons went to the final at Wembley." Craig had two sons, Daniel and Tony.
Kerry said that fellow Toon fans taking Craig's name on the banner had been a "lovely touch". She added: "We don't know what he was thinking. When he has struggled in the past he has reached out, but this time there was no indication. I just think it's happening more and more - especially around here."
The inquest, held on March 17, heard how Craig's wife Zoe had helped him to move into the flat just a few weeks prior to his death. Reading from her statement, the coroner said: "He had picked himself up. Was waiting for his own place, you helped him move in."
A statement from Craig's mum Sharon added: "He was re-housed three weeks prior to his death. As we were aware he was overjoyed as he had been living rough and in and out of hotels."
His family had worked with armed forces support services to help get Craig re-housed. A friend, Ross McGuigan, said in a statement that he had last seen Craig on November 10. He said: "He had been told to take a week off work but didn't seem particularly down about that, hadn't mentioned hurting himself." He later found out Craig had lost his job.
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The post-mortem, carried out by Dr Reynolds of the RVI in Newcastle, found that Craig's cause of death was the toxic effects of morphine and pregabalin. The coroner gave his conclusion. He said: "I have to answer two questions. The first is did he take his own life? Clearly he did as there was no-one involved.
"Secondly, did he intend to take his own life? In the past while he may have said some of the overdoses he took were impulsive - on this occasion he left detailed notes to everyone so there is no doubt of his intention to take his own life."