Former Northern Rock treasurer found dead at his home

26 November 2012 3:29 pm | By Paul Thomas

The former treasurer of Northern Rock has been found dead at his home in Newcastle.

South West News Service, a news agency, reports that friends of Keith Currie, 56, say he was haunted by the bank’s collapse and could not forgive himself for failing to ensure the business had enough finance to survive. They say he had become a recluse and began drinking heavily, contributing to the collapse of his marriage earlier this year.

Currie stepped down two months after the bank went bust in 2007 and retired with a reported £2.5m payout.

Police confirmed to SWNS that the father-of-one had been found dead at his home at around 3am on Sunday.

A friends, who wished to remain anonymous, told SWNS: “The shareholders were happy with what Northern Rock was doing when they were making them lots of money, but as soon as trouble began the share holders said it was too risky and they should not have been doing it. He went from hero to zero.

“It is a troubling thing. He was very human, he had good moral values – so much it cost him his life. He felt dreadful and started drinking very heavily. He started to fall into depression. His marriage broke up earlier this year. The drink is what cost him his marriage.”

A spokesman for Northumbria Police says: “At 3.12pm Northumbria Police received a report from the ambulance service of a man found dead at his house on Lindisfarne road in Jesmond.

“The man was in his 50s. The coroner has been informed.”

The cause of the death is not yet known.

Currie was appointed treasury manager of Northern Rock in January 2005. But month after Northern Rock crashed in September 2007 Currie was absent from work for two weeks citing stress.

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