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Llandudno taxi driver who killed himself had £179k debts
A TROUBLED taxi firm boss killed himself after running up debts of £179,000, an inquest was told yesterday.
Darrel Musgrove of Llandudno was worried about his mounting losses.
After the inquest, his twin brother Garrod hit out at the way Darrel was loaned huge sums by finance companies.
The hearing at Llandudno was told yesterday the dad-of-one was found hanging from a tree in woods between Conwy and Betws y Coed in the Conwy Valley in July.
The 37-year-old had left his parents’ home at Aber Drive, Llandudno, to go for a drive to “clear his head”.
His parents became worried about Darrel who had been depressed in the past after the breakdown of his marriage and being made redundant after 17 years working as a credit controller with Mita UK, Bodelwyddan.
He was in a new relationship, and was planning to marry his fiancé next year.
Darrel set up his firm Daz’ll Drive U based in Mostyn Avenue, Craig-y-Don, in November 2007, employing five drivers. It made huge losses.
His father, Alan, 71, said: “I think he was getting pushed from the credit card people. Whether that was what it was I don’t know.”
North central assistant deputy coroner Bharti Gittins said: “The catalyst seemed to be his financial troubles.”
Recording a suicide verdict, Mrs Gittins said: “He was clearly a man who had a predisposition for depression but also coupled with other factors including the trauma of his split up from his wife but he did form a strong relationship. But he seemed to have missed his daughter.”
His brother Garrod, an accountant, said: “The car sales company he dealt with along with various finance companies allowed him to obtain vehicles worth £195,000 and after obtaining deposits of £16,000 left him with a hire purchase debt of £179,000.
“The monthly repayments would have been over £4,000 per month.
“In the current climate I feel that this type of selling needs to be highlighted as these companies do not seem to care about the difficulty you are in once they have sold you their products.”
Garrod said proper checks would have shown his brother had no assets or collateral.
“He realised the position he was in and tried to obtain a loan from local banks. They did the checks and deemed he did not meet their criteria.
“This I feel is what the vehicle finance companies should have done in the first place.
“I realise this can’t bring my brother back, however, these finance companies need to realise that the way they are operating at the moment affects people’s lives.”
Welsh-speaking Darrel was born in St Asaph and grew up in Rhos on Sea. He attended Ysgol Creuddyn and subsequently Coleg Llandrillo, and was a member of Rhos on Sea Golf Club.
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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