Benefits Street star Lee Nutley is given emotional send-off as hundreds of mourners attend his funeral
A horse-drawn carriage carried his coffin coated in the flag of his beloved Middlesbrough Football Club
BENEFITS Street star Lee Nutley was given an emotional send-off today as hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects at his funeral.
A horse-drawn carriage carried his coffin, coated in the flag of his beloved Middlesbrough Football Club, to Stockton Parish Church, in Stockton-on-Tees.
The route was lined with flowers, red and white flags and balloons.
Many mourners at the devoted Boro fan's funeral also wore red and white instead of black.
After a moving service his coffin was then carried out to the team’s anthem, Pigbag.
The 43-year-old, who appeared in the second series of the controversial Channel 4 show, was found dead by his father, Billy, on Monday last week at his home in Kingston Road on Stockton’s Tilery estate.
Pastor Linda Donaldson, who took the service at the packed church, said Lee’s “precious little companion”, his Jack Russell, Mitsy, was also in attendance.
She said Lee, the eldest of five children, was loved not just by his family but by all who knew him, his many friends and neighbours.
The pastor said: “It seems to know him was to love him.
“I would suggest Lee was so likeable because he was so genuine. He never hid who he was.
“He was someone with a great ability to be completely non-judgemental.
“Others might have judged him, but he judged no one. He was compassionate and kind and adored his family. He was funny and never held a grudge and would do anything for anybody.”
But she said perhaps Lee was loved the most by his beloved Mitsy, who he was “never without”.
She told with a smile how recently Lee was “in the police station” and was told he could leave at 6pm but would have to come back the next day for Mitsy.
But Lee refused to leave the station without his dog, saying “Free the Tilery one, free Mitsy!”
“So he stood his ground and won and Mitsy was bailed that same night,” she said.
Norton-born Lee trained as an electrician when he left school, and also worked alongside his mum Chrissie in a kitchen.
He had relied on food banks and the kindness of his neighbours to survive after losing his construction job two-years-ago.
A former heroin addict, he told the TV show how he suffered seizures and had been on and off anti-depressants for eight years, but was determined to turn himself around and find work again.
“Lee struggled as many others have struggled, he got into trouble as many others have got into trouble,” said the Pastor.
“There were tough times too for him, but Lee was loved and adored by his family.”
Lee was dad to Lee Jnr, 22, and had recently become a grandad.
In a tragic twist of fate, Lee Jnr’s mother died just three weeks before his dad.
Paying tribute to her son in The Gazette Lee's heartbroken mum, Chrissie, described him as “a fantastic lad, a lovable rogue” who had “respect and time for everyone”.
“He still looked well even though he had his troubled past,” she said.
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Lee told The Gazette in May that he regretted his decision to take part in the Channel 4 show, in which he was one of six residents followed around by the TV cameras.
“If I could take it all back I think I probably would,” he said.
Many viewers of the show sent cards and messages of condolence to Lee’s family on learning of his death.
At his funeral the front of the service featured the famous shot from Benefits Street’s opening credits, of Lee and Mitsy enjoying a walk together.
Cleveland police have said there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
Lee was believed to have been trying to get his life back together.
He told : "I’m in a much better place now. I was on anti-depressants when the cameras were here and my epilepsy is under control now.
"I’m just waiting for one more test and once I’ve got the all clear I’ll be straight back to work.
"I’ve worked all my life and I plan on getting back to it. If people think I want to sit on my backside on £45 a week, they are very wrong."
Lee previously admitted the show had changed his life, but declared he was not planning to embrace his new-found fame.
He added: "I went to Stockton earlier and people were stopping me in the street.
"Mainly people I know shouting ‘Lee, you’re famous now mate’ and stuff like that.
"But this is not why I went on the show.
"I don’t plan to become some big celebrity and earn loads of money.
"As far as I’m concerned you don’t need money to be happy, and us lot being filmed here will prove it."
News of his death emerged just a day after another Benefits Street star hit headlines.
White Dee appeared on Loose Women yesterday to talk about her suicide attempt earlier this year.
The Birmingham-based star, who appeared the first series of the show, previously told The Sun that she down handfuls of sleeping pills and washed them down with booze in a bid to end her life.
During her TV appearance on Monday, she blamed the show for "demonising" her and other residents of Birmingham's James Turner Street.
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