Marriage break-up led to M62 horror

A loving stepfather whose marriage had broken down took his own life by throwing himself in front of a lorry on the M62.

An inquest at Heywood Coroner’s Court this week heard how 47-year-old Ian Stuart Barker, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, ran out on to the motorway after parking his car on the hard shoulder between junctions 19 and 20, on the morning of 11 April 2013.

Lorry driver Daniel Dolan, from Dublin, said: “I don’t think I could have done anything to avoid hitting him.

“I saw him bounce off the lane and land on the hard shoulder.

“I will never forget it. Sometimes I get flashbacks.”

Mr Barker, a window cleaner, had moved out of the house he shared with wife Julie and was living with his parents on a temporary basis in Tyldesley, Wigan.

His wife described Mr Barker as a “loving stepfather” to her child from a previous marriage.

Mrs Barker said her husband had not given any indication that he wished to take his own life, though she did admit that she had been “concerned about the state of his mind” the night before.

Senior coroner Simon Nelson said: “I can well understand that the intricacies of any relationship are difficult to resolve.

“I assume, sadly, that for him he was in the depths of despair.”