Depressed pensioner hanged himself

A Sheffield inquest heard how retired accountant Geoffrey Wilson, aged 63, had suffered from depression and anxiety for three years before his death in May.

The father of two grown-up children had previously tried to cut his throat and had told doctors he had thought of hanging himself, but said he had been held back by thoughts of the effects on his family.

The inquest heard how Mr Wilson’s mother had committed suicide when he was 20 and his father had subsequently been treated for depression.

Mr Wilson, of Langsett Avenue, Hillsborough, had been treated with anti-depressants but his condition deteriorated in the weeks before his death.

In a statement to the court, neighbour Robert Johnson described how, on the afternoon of Mr Wilson’s death, he had heard his wife, Pauline, go out with a female friend.

He later heard screaming and shouting and dashed round to find Mr Wilson hanging from a rafter in the garage.

He tried unsuccessfully to revive his neighbour before paramedics arrived.

Police officer PC David Whittle said Mr Wilson had been found with a plastic-coated washing line around his neck.

A post mortem examination found he had died by hanging.

Assistant deputy coroner Donald Coutts-Wood recorded a verdict that Mr Wilson had taken his own life.