A DEVOTED daughter has called for greater awareness of depression in older people after her father took his own life.

Alison Bogue’s father was a licensed gun holder and shot himself at his Boxted home in March after a battle with his mental health. He was 73.

Ms Bogue, who asked for her father not to be named, said: “He was a well educated and extremely knowledgeable.

“He excelled in electrical engineering and was well employed and travelled the world for both work and pleasure.

“He was a dedicated hobbyist and member of many clubs enjoying both indoor and outdoor pursuits.

“He fostered children for many years which meant he endured, successfully, the pleasures and pain of being a parent.

“He is loved and respected for his many thoughts and deeds.”

Ms Bogue said problems began for her father when he looked into releasing funds from his property.

“Retirement can leave the elderly feeling redundant,” she said. “He unfortunately became depressed after being fooled by the advantages of equity release, leading to spiralling costs.

“He is of an age where modern technology and lack of face-to-face contact is difficult and, eventually, deadly.

“Once sold equity release he was unable to talk to anyone.

“We became aware of the severity of his desperation and presented him to mental health services as suicidal with firearms. He was licensed to hold guns for many years.

“I won’t say that his life could have been saved. I do think more should have been done.

“We, as a family, have knowledge and experience with mental health which we think was dismissed. Depression is an invisible illnesses and a silent killer.

"As a family we’d like to acknowledge Essex Police and Hunnaball Funeral Services.

"Thoughts are with those who went through the trauma with us,"

  • Anyone struggling with depression or who is worried can contact the Samaritans 24/7 by calling 116 123.