A man who set himself on fire in a supermarket car park pleaded for help and told an onlooker “I don’t want to die” as he was consumed by flames.

David Morement, 71, of Camp Way, Maidstone, had suffered with chronic pain in his shoulders and back since a car crash in 2013.

He told his wife in an email that the pain was “too much” just eight minutes before setting his Skoda on fire with himself in it, in a Morrisons car park.

Fire fighters were called to the shop off Sutton Road, Maidstone, shortly after 4am on December 2, swiftly followed by paramedics, but Mr Morement was declared dead at the scene.

An inquest on Tuesday, May 19, ruled the married father-of-one and retired electrician had taken his own life.

The court heard Mr Morement was involved in a crash in May 2013 which left him with severe spinal injuries, a broken shoulder, broken elbow and in chronic pain.

Mr Morement’s wife Lynda, a hospital transport staff assistant, described how her husband was unable to work after the collision and his mood worsened.

Just over two weeks before Mr Morement took his own life, he took an overdose of over-the-counter medication.

He was admitted to hospital days later after telling his wife and assessed by a liaison psychiatric practitioner with the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

Mr Morement “indicated” he had acted impulsively after doing some jobs around the house left him in agony and he had no further plans to take his own life. An on-going legal dispute with neighbours had also increased his stress.

It was decided Mr Morement presented “no acute mental health symptoms” which warranted immediate action but he did speak to the community health team the day after he was discharged from hospital.

An eye witness on her way to work described how she spotted Mr Morement’s car on fire.

“As I was waiting to cross over to Sutton Road I saw something bright in the corner of my eye towards Morrisons. I looked over and saw a car on fire and a man on fire.

“He was out of the car at this point, he must have taken about four or five steps away from the car. He shouted ‘Please help me, I don’t want to die’, I was shouting to him to duck and roll but he didn’t.

'I am sorry, you deserve a better partner than me...'

“I called 999 and was on the phone when he collapsed on the floor and stopped moving.”

Minutes before, Mr Morement emailed his wife: “I am sorry, you deserve a better partner than me. The stress and pain are too much,” assistant coroner James Dillon heard.

The afternoon before, Mr Morement sent his wife another email titled “no future”, saying he had not been the same since the accident. He wrote ‘thanks for everything and goodbye’, telling her he loved her more than she could ever know.

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