Suicide verdict on love-split alcoholic

Father-of-two Christopher Knowles, 39, who suffered from depression, left a farewell note which was found in a cupboard after his death.

Mr Knowles, of Doe Quarry Lane, Dinnington, had attempted suicide before – once when a tree branch broke under his weight in a graveyard and also from a hook on the living room wall.

His girlfriend, Lucy Brown, said in a statement read at the Rotherham hearing that they remained on good terms after their two-year relationship ended.

He had threatened to take his life in texts and phone calls to her but she did not take them seriously. She added: “I thought he was trying to get me to go back to him and make me feel guilty.”

She said he had mounting debts and was upset at his ex-partner moving to Norfolk with his daughter.

Medical records showed Mr Knowles was downing three litres of strong cider a day in October 2009. He improved with help, then went downhill again after his family moved away.

Pc David English told the inquest he found Mr Knowles’s body at his home on October 4 last year. He was found hanged from a cupboard door by a belt around his neck.

Two empty bottles of cider were nearby.

Nobody from Mr Knowles’s family was present at the inquest.

His father, Robert Knowles, said in a statement that he had had nothing to do with him for 10 years after they fell out over his drinking, cannabis smoking and taking money from family members.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Rotherham coroner Nicola Mundy said the breakdown of Mr Knowles’s relationship was a significant factor in his death.

“It is clear he had difficulties in coming to terms with that breakdown,” she said.