EXCLUSIVE Pictured: Devoted husband who killed himself by setting his car on fire and told rescuers to ‘let him go’ two months after his wife of 50 years passed away

• Michael Hewett, 72, died by setting his car on fire two months after wife’s death
• For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org 

Neighbours paid tribute to a devoted husband who killed himself by setting his car on fire and told rescuers to ‘let him go’ two months after his wife passed away.

Heartbroken Michael Hewett, 72, has now been pictured after he died in the fire in February, following the death of his wife Diana on New Year’s Day.

The couple had been married for more than 50 years and were ‘devoted to each other’, relatives said.

Now neighbours in the rural village of Lezant, Cornwall, who came to his aid, claim the ambulance took more than two hours to arrive.

Neighbours paid tribute to a devoted husband Michael Hewett (pictured), 72, who killed himself by setting his car on fire and told rescuers to ‘let him go’ two months after his wife passed away

Matthew Basire, 59, was the first on the scene and pulled Mr Hewett from the car said: ‘I just find it so hard to believe he killed himself, I still think it was an accident. He left behind his little terrier and he just loved that dog so much.

READ MORE: Devoted husband, 72, killed himself by setting his car on fire after his wife of 50 years died, telling rescuers trying to save him ‘let me go’

‘I saw him the day before and we spoke about Diana and he said ‘thank you for your kind words’. He was obviously grieving but there was no sign he was suicidal.

‘It’s just such a shame because they were so happy together

‘They were in the same house for 30 years. I used to see him every day, they just lived for each other.

‘They loved the area and told people it was paradise for them. It’s just awful what happened.’

An inquest this week heard Mr Hewett, who is understood to have worked at pasty maker Ginsters before retiring, sat in his Honda CR-V on the driveway and set fire to the car.

Neighbours heard an explosion in the early hours of February 11 and pulled him from the inferno but he suffered 95 per cent burns and died later in Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital.

Mr Basire added: ‘It was around 5am, I’d just woken up and saw this orange glow coming from the house then I realised what it was. I said to the wife to ring the fire service and I ran around.

‘He was already half out of the car when I found him. The fire service was brilliant and we did all we could before they got there but we had to wait so long for an ambulance, the fire service ended up ringing them to bollock them too.’

Another neighbour who asked not to be named said: ‘They were a lovely couple but very private. It’s just so sad for something like that to happen to them.’

As rescuers surrounded Mr Hewett to save him, he mumbled to a firefighter at the scene ‘let me go’, the inquest heard.

Police found an entry in his 2023 diary on January 25 saying: ‘I cannot live without my wife. Sorry, Mike.’

The day before his death he had made the arrangements for his wife’s funeral.

The couple, who were childless, were described as ‘placid and calm’ and did not have many friends.

Michael Hewett killed himself by setting his car on fire, a coroner’s inquest held at Pydar House, Truro (pictured) heard

Neighbours heard an explosion and pulled him from the inferno but he suffered 95 per cent burns and died later in Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital (pictured)

One friend told the inquest at Pydar House in Truro, Cornwall, that after Mrs Hewett died, Mr Hewett changed and became quiet and struggled without their routine and was grief stricken.

Doctors said the retired factory worker suffered burns to every part of his body but his feet and that his injuries were unsurvivable.

Relatives on his wife’s side of the couple said they were ‘devoted to each other’ and were not surprised that he died six weeks after his wife.

Friend Teresa Parnell said they were married for 53 years and Mr Hewett was heartbroken when she died.

She said: ‘He struggled after her death. He did not know how to boil an egg and he struggled with loneliness.’

Police and fire investigators concluded Mr Hewett had deliberately placed himself in the car and set fire to it as he intended to end his life.

The senior Cornwall coroner Andrew Cox recorded a suicide conclusion saying they lived for each other’s lives and Mr Hewett was lost without her.

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit www.samaritans.org

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