Grieving Father Kills Himself And Disabled Son

A distraught father killed himself and his disabled son by driving his car into a harbour the day after his wife died.

It is believed Ray Gigg, 70, feared he could not cope with being the sole carer for his son, Lincoln, 39, who had learning disabilities.

The family dog also drowned in the car, which was driven at high speed from the harbourside into the water at Sharpness Docks, near Dursley, Glos.

A police source said: “It is a terribly tragic story. The driver’s wife died in hospital in Bristol over the weekend.

“It looks as though the father has decided he cannot cope with his son any more without his wife’s help and has decided to end it all for them both.”

Mr Gigg’s wife June, also 70, died of peritonitis – inflammation of the lining of the intestine – on Sunday at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

The following evening police were called to the harbourside at Sharpness after a dock worker reported seeing a blue Peugeot 307 plunge into the water. Witnesses have told officers the car appeared to be driven deliberately and at speed over the edge into the harbour.

Fire crews, ambulances, police cars and a coastguard vessel went to the scene, but could not recover the car and were forced to wait for the tide to drop in the docks at about 3am to reach it.

Emergency services worked through the night to recover the vehicle, draining the docks so that it could be lifted out.

The dead bodies of the father and son, and their pet, were discovered inside the car.

The Sharpness Docks harbour master, Keith Badsey, said the docks, which were operating normally when the incident happened, were stopped as soon as the car was noticed.

He said: “We helped the police and used the crane from the ship repair yard to get the car out. It was a very unfortunate event.”

Gloucestershire police said the Gloucester coroner Alan Crickmore has been informed and the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.

A spokesman said: “Police were called to Sharpness Docks at approximately 7.30pm yesterday following a report of a dock worker seeing a car being driven into the water.

“Agencies including the police, the fire and rescue service, the ambulance service and the coastguard worked at the scene to recover the vehicle.

“Two bodies, of a 70-year-old man and a 39-year-old man, both from Bristol, were recovered from the car.

“The incident is being thoroughly investigated by Gloucestershire Constabulary but no third party is believed to have been involved.”

A spokesman for the coroner said post mortem examinations would be carried out on the bodies of the two men at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, by Home Office pathologist Dr Stephen Leadbeatter.

Sharpness Docks links the Bristol Channel with the 17 mile Sharpness canal to Gloucester docks, Britain’s most inland port.

Friends and neighbours of Mr Gigg said he had been “beside himself” with grief over the death of his wife.

The couple lived in a semi-detached cottage in Coalpit Heath, near Bristol, with their son. They have two other grown-up sons who live in Bristol.

A neighbour, Margaret Amos, 78, said: “June went into hospital for a bowel op on the weekend. It was supposed to be a straightforward procedure but something went wrong.

“I saw Ray on Monday at about lunchtime and he told me all about it. He was absolutely beside himself with grief. He was in a terrible state.

“I don’t know what happened after that but if he did take his life and that of their son he must have felt very desperate.

“It is so unlike him. They were a happy family and they (the parents) were completely dedicated to their son.

“He had learning difficulties and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk since I’ve known them, but they loved him so much. What a terrible turn of fate. I feel just terrible for the two sons who are left. One is battling cancer.”

Edwina Pennell, 51, a local shop assistant, added: “We have known Ray for years and if this is the case that he killed himself and his son I know that he would be thinking ‘who could look after the boy after he passed away?’.

“I don’t think it would’ve been a selfish act, but a completely desperate one.”