Demoralised: Martin Hadfield felt he was losing out to less experienced candidates (Picture: Supplied)

A jobless gardener killed himself after being left demoralised by his fruitless search for work and hours of form-filling at the job centre.

Martin Hadfield, 20, was so keen to get a job he refused to claim benefits and applied for 40 posts in three months without any success.

He felt he was losing out to less experienced candidates who could be paid less. After one session with job centre staff where he was offered nothing more than a follow-up meeting, he hanged himself at his flat.

Today, his stepfather, Peter O’Gorman, said he hated not having a job.


He added: ‘Martin was never a statistic to us but in the last months of his life he was a statistic by being out of work, a statistic when he went to the job centre and now he is a statistic by killing himself.



‘Sadly, this statistic seems to be growing especially in boys Martin’s age who are struggling in the current climate, or struggling with life and they forget to think about talking to someone.’

Scottish-born Mr Hadfield had worked helping his stepfather cleaning cars before gaining NVQs and getting a job as a gardener. But in April last year, he was made redundant.

His family said he would have taken any kind of work but became increasingly fed up at being overlooked.

Hours after a meeting at a job centre in Bury he was found hanged at home in nearby Tottington by his flatmate.

‘I think he just got frustrated with the system and had a moment of madness,’ Mr Gorman said after an inquest in Heywood.

‘He isn’t like some people his age happy on the dole watching Jeremy Kyle day after day.’

Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Simon Nelson said: ‘Martin was clearly very highly thought of. But young men in particular tend to act or react impulsively to life’s events.’