Tributes to 'amazing' Newquay dad who died from an overdose
The writer never truly recovered from the death of his doctor wife
St Thomas Road where Mr Glover lived
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The daughter of a dad-of-two who died from an overdose has paid tribute to an "amazing" father who was interested in almost everything.
Stephen Glover, 54, was discovered dead inside his flat in Newquay on May 31 this year, following concerns for his welfare.
Mr Glover suffered from poor mental health and physical ailments and was unable to look after himself in an appropriate manner.
The inquest heard how Mr Glover had struggled to cope with the death of his second wife, a doctor who took her own life over 15 years ago when they were living together in Lancashire.
Mr Glover was traumatised by her loss and the circumstances of her death, and subsequently developed a heroin addiction and also drank heavily.
Mr Glover sought help from drug and alcohol support services and had managed to abstain from street heroin for several years, while his alcohol intake had also lessened considerably.
But Mr Glover continued to take methadone - a prescribed substitute drug for heroin - which ultimately killed him.
A post-mortem examination showed that the level of methadone in Mr Glover's blood was beyond the lethal range, and a pathologist recorded a cause of death as methadone toxicity.
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Mr Glover, who used to work as a porter and also described himself as a writer, had a daughter with a previous wife and also brought up his late second wife's daughter, Karen Gordon, as his own.
Mr Glover moved to Cornwall a decade ago to be closer to nature and the ocean. He first lived in a caravan on a farm in St Agnes, before later moving to Newquay.
His stepdaughter, Ms Gordon, told the inquest: "His involvement [in my life] has been enormous, we were in very close contact and spoke every other day when he wasn't feeling too bad. He was my last remaining family.
"He was amazing, he was interested in everything, he could play a few different instruments, read a few different languages and he loved music.
"He loved nature and wildlife and knew the names of plants and insects and the wildlife, which is one of the reasons he loved Cornwall so much and being close to the ocean. There wasn't much he wasn't interested in."
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Ms Gordon said her father's physical health had deteriorated in the last five or six years of his life.
Describing the moment she last saw Mr Glover in August 2019, she said: "He was very happy to see me and my wife, he was very funny and jovial, but he looked sick, his face was puffy, he'd lost his colour, he just looked really ill.
"He always went through periods of self neglect. His mental health during the lockdown period was affected.
"I was very worried about him, but his mental health being a concern of mine wasn't a new thing. Knowing he was going through a down phase and really suffering in the isolation in lockdown, I never believed he would take his own life.
"There were numerous times he would explicitly tell me, 'after what happened with your mum, I will never do that to you'. That's not my belief [that he took his own life]. He always said he wouldn't do that. I know he took more prescription drugs than he was prescribed."
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The inquest heard that Mr Glover continually told both his family and medics that he would never take his own life.
Assistant coroner for Cornwall, Stephen Covell, recorded a conclusion of drug related death. Mr Covell was of the opinion that Mr Glover most likely died of an accidental overdose of his prescribed methadone.
Mr Covell said: "Stephen was honest with people about the mental health problems he was suffering but the fact he talked about those matters and assured those dear to him that he would never take his life, leads me to think it's unlikely he would have taken is life, on the balance of probability.
"For a man who was a great writer and able to talk about his problems, I can't imagine he would take his life without putting something down in writing to those he loved."
St Agnes