Oxford Big Issue seller remembered for his ‘kindness’

Paul Crawford, a familiar face to many on the streets of the city where he could be spotted selling copies of the social enterprise magazine and befriending passersby, died on December 30 last year.

An inquest was held into the death of the 48-year-old man at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court on Thursday, April 30, which heard Mr Crawford took his own life at his home in Oxford.

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Mr Crawford’s niece, Megan Jones, said her uncle was more loved than he knew by those around him.

“Our relationship with Uncle Paul wasn’t straightforward,” Ms Jones said on behalf of herself and her sister.

“When we were little, he promised mum he would stay away from us unless he got clean, a promise he kept even when we were adults, even though we reached out.

Paul and his sister Lynn, Megan Jones’ mother, when they were young, 1981 (Image: Contributed)

“He was so involved with us when we were little, though, babysitting us, watching films, and always going along with whatever make-believe game we came up with, and he was always so much fun, a true Crawford trait of being a wind-up merchant.

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“What is so amazing is how, despite his traumas, he cared so much about others.

“Whether it was walking someone’s dog or doing shopping for older folks around Summertown, these ‘so Paul’ moments of kindness were his trademark.

Paul Crawford (Image: Contributed)

“He listened to you and showed so many that you were loved and that you mattered.

“The world could use a lot more of that.”

The mark that the Big Issue seller left on Summertown was clear in the wake of his death, when a bench in the city neighbourhood was filled with tributes left in memory of the well-known Oxford character.

Tributes to Paul Crawford in Summertown. (Image: Newsquest)

Evidence heard at the inquest suggested Mr Crawford had struggled with class A drug addiction for some time, suffered some long-term health conditions, and was finding it difficult to cope with bereavements of friends and family members.

Mr Crawford’s friend, Dan, described by his niece as ‘more like a brother’, died in early last year.

Paul Crawford (left) with his friend Dan, who sadly died last year (Image: Contributed)

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In a statement read to the court, another friend of the deceased, Kevin Cooper, said: “We spent Christmas Day together as we were both on our own and I knew the time of year would be particularly hard for Paul.

“He had lost a close friend who he lived with in early January, and I knew Paul had never recovered from this as he would frequently tell me how much he missed him.

“Christmas was a good day. Paul was laughing and joking and playing with my dog.

“This was a shock to me. I am devastated by his death, and I think about him every day.”

The coroner concluded that Mr Crawford’s death was a suicide, and he died by hanging in his home on December 30, 2025.

He was discovered by police officers conducting a welfare check on January 1.

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