The gingerbread man kills himself to end legal trouble

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This is very sad. My heart goes out to his wife and children. He should have thought about his family before taking his own life. What will they do without him? I'm not an opponent of suicide but when you leave people behind that depend you, it is wrong. He did suffer from depression but still... ---- Story: The gingerbread man kill himself: Tragic end to legal battle over recipe that divided a Lakeland village It's the village of quaint shop-fronts and peaceful walks - a place where most go to escape life's stresses. But away from the eyes of visitors, a bitter feud was festering over Grasmere's most famous commodity - gingerbread. It has now been revealed that Steven Bell, 52 a father of three and restaurant boss, committed suicide three days after withdrawing from a legal battle over the origins of the cake. The year-long wrangle centred on an application by business rivals to trademark the world-famous name Grasmere Gingerbread. Mr Bell claimed the application threatened his business because he produced his own Grasmere gingerbread in his restaurant. But at the start of this year, faced with a potential legal bill of £12,000,he finally decided to withdraw his objection to the application. Then last Saturday he was found hanged at his home in the village. To blame, said a family friend , were what became known locally as the Gingerbread Wars. 'The case put Steven under tremendous pressure,' said the friend. 'His was only a little business, but it turned into a very heated situation. 'Steven said he thought he had a 90 per cent chance of winning the battle.' The friend, who asked not to be named, then said that Mr Bell had withdrawn his objection because 'there was a 10 per cent chance that he would lose and he couldn't afford to take that chance'. At the heart of the row was Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread shop, a 17th century cottage which has been producing gingerbread ever since the former domestic servant began selling her version in 1854. Tucked away in the corner of St Oswald's churchyard and overlooking Wordsworth's grave, the shop attracts tourists from all over the world.Sarah's recipe is now in an Ambleside bank vault. Gerald Wilson and his wife Margaret bought the business in 1969 and it was their recent application to register Grasmere Gingerbread as a trademark which led to hostilities.The shop is run by their daughter Joanne. The Wilsons claimed Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread was like Yorkshire Tea and Newcastle Brown Ale - a product that needed protection from individuals trying to trade off its reputation. But Mr Bell, who sold his own Grasmere Gingerbread at his Williams Riverside restaurant, claimed they had no rights to the name and insisted the application threatened his business. He made gingerbread from an old family recipe and although different to the Sarah Nelson product he claimed he should be entitled to call it Grasmere Gingerbread as well. The feud grew so bitter that before it reached court even the local Liberal Democrat MP, Tim Farron, intervened. But Mr Bell, who served in the Royal Navy for 15 years, refused to give in. Before his death he said: 'This is war. To lose that right to make something that you have grown up with would be unnecessary and most unfair. 'Gingerbread was being made in Grasmere long before Sarah Nelson came to the village. Hers is just one version, as history proves.' He argued that gingerbread arrived in Grasmere with the sugar, spices and slaves that came through the nearby port of Whitehaven and was first made by West Indian servants, then by poorer village families. In his submissions to the Intellectual Property Office, which is still considering the application, he referred to journals by Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy, who lived in the village between 1799 and 1813. She described being offered versions of the cake by a local woman almost 50 years before Sarah Nelson started selling hers. Mr Bell's brother Tim said: 'He had been depressed for quite a while. He didn't tell me about it. I only wish he had.' He said his brother took the legal wrangle 'in his stride' and claimed the only explanation for his death was a change in his prescription for depression. A spokesman for the Wilsons said: 'There was never any personal animosity. Our sympathies go out to anybody suffering from depression. It's terribly sad.' An inquest into Mr Bell's death has been opened and adjourned. He leaves a wife, Joanne, 45, two sons and a daughter. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1118843/The-gingerbread-man-kills-Tragic-end-legal-battle-recipe-divided-Lakeland-village.html