Rock music fan 'stabbed himself to death in despair' after three months of tinnitus made his life hell

Tragic: Robert McIndoe committed suicide after struggling to get treatment for tinnitus that left him unable to sleep for three months

A rock music fan apparently took his life after battling to get treatment for debilitating tinnitus, an inquest heard yesterday.



Father-of-two Robert McIndoe, 52, was unable to sleep for three months after attending a concert that left him with a permanent ringing in his ears.



But he was put off and turned away several times by doctors.



A letter of referral to a hospital ear, nose and throat specialist finally arrived the day after he is believed to have stabbed himself to death.



His wife Shirley McIndoe told the hearing that the day after he went to see the band Them Crooked Vultures last July, her husband was ‘cross with himself’ for not taking ear plugs.



She said: ‘When it first happened he wasn’t too bothered about it because he thought it would subside, and the friend he had been with also had ringing in his ears that day.



‘But it was a constant irritation. He didn’t get a night of sleep after that.’



Mr McIndoe, a management consultant and a keen guitarist, visited his GP surgery three times and was referred to see an ear, nose and throat specialist at King’s College Hospital in London.



But when he went to the hospital, he was told it had no specialists in the field. He was then turned away by St Thomas’s.

Less than a fortnight before his death, Mr McIndoe attended A&E at Lewisham Hospital, where he was prescribed sleeping tablets and a doctor promised to fax his GP for an appointment the following day.



Lewisham Hospital: Robert McIndoe first went to his local hospital after contracting tinnitus

But when he visited his surgery the following day, he was told no note had been received. ‘He came away from that appointment really, really distressed – and felt the GP didn’t believe him and was treating him like a malingerer,’ his wife said.



The day after the appointment, on October 19 last year, he left a suicide note before taking an overdose of the sleeping tablets at the family home in Sydenham, south-east London.



Mr McIndoe, 52, had been to a concert to see Them Crooked Vultures. Pictured are band members John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme

This was unsuccessful. ‘He said he hadn’t wanted to wake up because he couldn’t bear the thought that he was no good to us,’ Mrs McIndoe said.



‘He just wanted to sleep and not be suffering. They kept him in hospital for three days and I thought that had been the low point, and we were moving forward.’

However, on October 31 he died after apparently stabbing himself, Southwark Coroner’s Court heard.



Robert McIndoe tried alternative therapies and even considered permanently deafening himself by having his auditory nerve cut

The referral letter arrived on November 1. ‘As far as Robert was concerned, he never heard back from anyone,’ said Mrs McIndoe.



Following his admission for the overdose, Mr McIndoe told a psychiatrist he ‘was prepared to be deaf or dead’ if he could get no relief from the maddening ringing.



Consultant psychiatrist Dr Nicholas Dunn, who saw Mr McIndoe on the day of his discharge after the suicide attempt, said: ‘I thought he would be manageable in the community.



‘I thought there was a risk of a further overdose, because of his previous behaviour, but I didn’t didn’t have him down as committing suicide – it was a shock.’



The court heard that Mr McIndoe had tried alternative therapies, including acupuncture, and even considered permanently deafening himself by having his auditory nerve cut.



‘He was very distressed, saying he didn’t think he could go on,’ his wife said. ‘It was awful, he looked terrible, and he just felt so bad all the time. He was desperate that it was never going to change – he didn’t know if he could live like this.’



A profile on business networking site LinkedIn lists his interests as acting, art, film-making, health, people and theatre.



The hearing continues.