Martin Hadfield tragically hanged himself after a particularly unsuccessful meeting with job centre staff, and was discovered by his flatmate.
During his extensive search for work, he applied for 40 jobs in a three months period and was refused each time. Despite being unable to find a job, Martin refused to claim benefits.
His stepfather, Peter O’Gorman, today revealed Martin’s struggle and lack of support from professionals when it came to finding a job.
He said: “Martin was never a statistic to us but in the last few 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 boy’s Martin’s age who are struggling in the current climate, or struggling with life and they forget to think about talking to someone.”
Martin was an experienced gardener but his family have revealed he wasn’t picky when it came to finding a job, insisting he would have taken anything.
Peter claimed that Martin was just frustrated with the lack of help from the job centre and had a moment of ‘madness’.
He added: “I think he just got frustrated with the system and had a moment of madness.
“He isn’t like some people his age happy on the dole watching Jeremy Kyle day after day.”
A coroner recorded the verdict of death as suicide, saying: “Young men in particular tend to act or react impulsively to life’s events.”