council boss jo stephenson, 59, who died after jumping from his roof had been 'stressed over plans to introduce new parking charges' a council boss who died after jumping from his roof had been 'stressed over plans to introduce new parking charges', an inquest heard father of two cllr jo stephenson, 59, who was lib dem deputy leader of cumbria county council, died in hospital three weeks later from internal injuries his wife hilary told the inquest he had been under considerable pressure in the weeks before his death to push through the later abandoned policy of fresh on street parking across cumbria it was initially thought mr stephenson had accidentally fallen from his roof while carrying out some diy on his lake windermere home in july last year but kendal coroner's court was told after hitting the ground mr stephenson dialled 999   and admitted to the call handler he had thrown himself off on purpose he then discussed ending his life with the paramedic at his home, as well as with staff at the royal preston hospital, the inquest heard the former lakes school teacher was said to have been 'deeply distressed' by 'personal attacks' made towards him over the internet these came as a result of the move to impose a parking tariff in 11 towns including carlisle, penrith, cockermouth and keswick the plans were not introduced following a consultation that identified concerns about the inadequacy of the  enforcement regime this resulted in him appearing 'distracted' in the fortnight before the incident while in hospital the councillor suffered what was described as a 'psychotic episode'   attacking a pregnant nurse with a butter knife mental health consultant dr richard morgan confirmed mr stephenson 'lashed out' at the pregnant nurse he said the councillor also injured his own eye with the arm of his glasses and said he wished the attempt upon his life had been successful mr stephenson's wife argued he was terrified, sleep deprived and affected by medication at the time she added she did not believe mr stephenson deliberately tried to end his life he died on 25 july from a pulmonary embolism and bronchial pneumonia, with a stroke as a secondary factor giving a narrative verdict, assistant coroner alan sharpe stopped short of ruling mr stephenson had intended to take his own life but said the fall was 'no accident' he discussed ending his life with the paramedic at his home, as well as with staff at the royal preston hospital (pictured), the inquest heard  the south cumbria deputy coroner stressed that while mr stephenson had told medics he had intended to take his own life, it was not certain he was thinking clearly at the time of his fall he added: 'it's quite clear jo stephenson was very well loved and liked and had lived a very successful life 'it's quite clear from the transcript of the 999 call and from the evidence given by the paramedic that it was not an accident when he fell from the roof 'whatever his state of mind   he did jump' his widow hilary told the hearing despite the attacks he received in the months before his death, she had no regrets about him entering politics last year deputy prime minister nick clegg led the tributes to respected mr stephenson mr clegg said: 'i am very sad to hear of the death of jo stephenson, a much loved and dedicated councillor and a great servant of his community prime minister nick clegg led the tributes to mr stephenson describing him as a 'much loved and dedicated councillor' 'he is a real loss to the lib dem family and will be greatly missed 'my thoughts are with his family and friends at this awful time' mr stephenson, who had previously worked as a solicitor and teacher, also ran a b&b near the scenic lake windermere, in cumbria, and was a former leader of south lakeland district council labour cllr stewart young said: 'we are all enormously shocked by this very sad news 'i worked very closely with jo since the 2013 elections and found him to be a very decent and honourable man he will be thoroughly missed' clare feeney johnson, a friend of mr stephenson and a fellow lib dem cabinet member, was also devastated by his death she added: 'jo was an inspiration for many of us and gave up so much of his time and resources in order to try and make windermere and cumbria a better place 'all of our thoughts are with hilary and his family at this very distressing time' tim farron, the liberal democrat mp for the south lakes, said: 'jo was a wonderful councillor, colleague and friend 'he got involved in local politics, giving up a career in law because he wanted to make a difference to the community he loved' county council chief executive diane wood said mr stephenson would be sorely missed, adding: 'this is a complete bolt from the blue because he appeared to be recovering so well' james airey, leader of the authority's opposition conservative group, described mr stephenson as a 'a gentle, quiet and thoroughly decent family man' cllr peter thornton, leader of sldc, said: 'jo was a much loved ward councillor, and colleague 'we will all miss him and the members and staff of sldc send our prayers and heartfelt sympathies to hilary, his wife, and family' lawrence conway, chief executive, sldc said: 'cllr stephenson worked tirelessly for his community 'he is a great loss to them and the council we shall all miss him' for confidential support on suicide matters in the uk, call the samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local samaritans branch or click here 
jo stephenson cumbria cc alan sharpe nick clegg
councillor jo stephenson, 59, jumped  from the roof of his home . deputy leader of cumbria cc died three weeks later from internal injuries . he was stressed over plans for new parking charges, inquest heard . politician was also 'deeply distressed' by personal attacks made online . he died of pulmonary embolism and pneumonia three weeks after incident . coroner alan sharpe said the fall in july last year was 'no accident'. deputy pm  nick clegg described him as 'much loved' and 'dedicated'