Ringkøbing-Skjern orders inquiry after school principal’s suicide

Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality will launch an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of school principal Hans Henrik Jakobsen, DR reports.

All eight parties on the municipal council have agreed to investigate the period before and after Jakobsen’s death in January.

Jakobsen was principal of Rindum Kjærgaard, a special school in Ringkøbing. According to Dagbladet Ringkøbing-Skjern, he took stress-related sick leave last year following a troubled working relationship with the municipality’s administration. His condition later developed into depression, and he took his own life in January.

The local newspaper has reported on several critical emails sent by senior officials late in the evening and at night. Mayor Lone Andersen of the Liberal Party has described the course of events as “adult bullying”.

The municipality said the inquiry would examine the entire employment-related course surrounding Jakobsen’s death, as well as the municipality’s subsequent handling of the case. It said the investigation would be conducted thoroughly and with respect for his family, employees and the legal rights of everyone involved.

“We want to investigate whether there were points in the administrative or political system where we failed,” Andersen said.