'It won't be the last' family say as inquest finds inheritance tax fears had role in Barnsley farmer's death

The documentary inquest was held today (May 28) at Sheffield’s Medico-Legal Centre, with family and friends in attendance.

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The coroner heard how on October 29, 2024, Johnathan Charlesworth, aged 47, found his dad, also called Johnathan, 79, dead in the family farm’s barn.

They had spoken only the night before, with Johnathan Jnr - who now runs the farm - telling the court he had no reason to be concerned for his father’s welfare, as they discussed a topic that had become a regular talking point: the upcoming Autumn Budget.

Johnathan Snr- known by most as Philip - had taken his own life in the early hours of the morning, medical examiners discovered, leaving behind a signed note asking for a simple funeral and for his ashes to be spread in Lucy Wood, near to the farm he had worked at his whole life.

Described as a ‘typical, tight Yorkshire farmer’ by his son, Johnathan Snr had spent his life cultivating and developing Broad Close Farm in Silkstone, Barnsley, after inheriting it from his father.

According to family, it was his dream to pass this on to the next generation in a better condition than it was when he took charge.

Over recent years, the grandfather-of-six had retired and been caring for his wife who was suffering from late-stage dementia, family shared.

The round-the-clock support had caused him stress, the inquest heard, however family stand by the belief that it was growing fears around the government’s October budget, and a lack of clarity on how new inheritance tax changes would affect the farm, that led to his death.

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Senior coroner Tanyka Rawden concluded that Johnathan Snr had died by suicide, taking his own life after expressing concerns around the ‘implications of new regulations around the inheritance tax’ during conversations with his son.

Following the inquest, Johnathan Jnr said: “It was great to hear the coroner agreed with what we already knew, that it was the inheritance tax that really ended my father’s life.

“I’ve always said he did have other stresses looking after my mum, but if it wasn’t for [the tax] he’d still be here today - I’m 100 per cent certain of that.

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“It was the looming doom of inheritance tax that we just did not know what was going to happen - there was no information out there, we knew it was coming in the budget but we didn’t know if it was going to be implemented on the budget day, whether it going to be down the line, how much it was going to be.

“He just decided that ‘I’m not risking it, I’ve worked all my life for this, for myself, for my kids and for generations to come hopefully’ - he wasn’t prepared to risk that, it meant too much to him.”

The day after Johnathan Snr’s death, the government revealed in the budget that agricultural assets worth more than £1 million, which had previously been exempt, will now be liable to inheritance tax at 20 per cent - half the usual rate.

Johnathan and his sister Verity Charlesworth shared with The Star that it was a difficult decision to go public about their father’s death, as they grappled with their own grief after losing ‘the best dad you could ask for’.

However, they hoped that their father’s story would help shed light on a growing problem, as farmers up and down the country battle with mental health struggles.

“Mental health’s been a problem in farming for a long while, this has just compounded the problem,” he added.

“Everything from long hours and lone working to very limited profit margins that people are operating on - put this on top and it’s just compounding the problem.”

“[This] may have been the first, but it won’t be the last unless something’s done.”

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