74-year old widower Charles feared that bedroom tax would leave him destitute and unable to cope. A friend says, “He worried the tax would mean him having to move into a smaller house. He didn’t want that.” This was the house he had lived in with his wife and he had kept it unchanged since she died 19 years ago. His stepdaughter said he had little money in his bank account and had secretly sold his car and taken out a loan for £1,000 to make ends meet. Charles hanged himself.