Floods hero 'thought his wife was cheating'
*Published Date: *
30 April 2008
By Nick Ward

 A HERO of last summer's Sheffield floods, praised for hauling a teenager
from a swollen river, hanged himself after becoming convinced his wife had a
holiday fling in Africa.
Builder Craig Stenton, aged 41, and his wife Debbie had just returned from a
holiday to the Gambia with their son Bradley and Debbie's mother Lesley
Parkin.

A Sheffield inquest heard Craig was found hanging with a photocopy of what
police described as a "cheesy love letter", sent from the Gambia, in his
pocket.

At the bottom of the letter – signed by a man named Samba Jello – was a note
added in biro by Craig which read: "You have your wish. I am out of your
life forever."

Pc Richard Gay told the inquest the letter had originally been addressed to
Mrs Parkin – Craig Stenton's mother-in-law – over which someone had written
his wife's name, Debbie.

Mrs Parkin said Gambian men had been asking British holidaymakers to take
letters to post on from England – and about a week after getting home she
received a letter with a London postmark.

She said her son-in-law was there when she opened it, she showed the letter
to him, and they laughed about it before Craig took it away with him.

"I had no idea who it was from," she said. "I thought it might be from one
of the couples we met on holiday having a laugh."

But Craig later confronted his wife about the letter.

Mrs Parkin told the inquest her daughter never went out on her own
throughout the whole holiday, and Debbie denied having a fling.

She told the court she and her husband rowed about the letter but added: "It
meant nothing to me, nothing at all. He ripped it up and put it in the bin."

Craig's brother Mark told the inquest Craig told their father that Debbie
had also received a phone call from a man in Gambia – which Debbie denied.

Days later Craig, who had made photocopies of the letter, hanged himself
from a balcony at his home in Station Road, Chapeltown, using nylon washing
line he took from the garden.

He was found by Debbie, a residential mental health worker, when she
returned home after working a night shift.

The court heard Craig had also been worried about £40,000 debts, a
forthcoming county court appearance, and the possibility of losing his job.

Recording a verdict that Craig took his own life, coroner Donald Coutts-Wood
said: "I accept he believed the letter had referred to his wife. Whether
that is correct or not is not an issue for me."

Craig was honoured by the Prime Minister and commended by police last year
after he jumped into Blackburn Brook in Chapeltown to save 14-year-old Josh
Savage during the summer floods.

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