Hanged man heard voices (From Stroud News and Journal)

Hanged man heard voices

A MAN with a history of alcohol abuse was 'drunk and aggressive' on the day he hanged himself in the garden of his parents' home, an inquest heard on Wednesday.

Stewart Wood's mother Wendy saw him walking along the roadside as she drove back to the family home in Slad Road, Slad, near Stroud, during the early evening of September 20.

Cotswold Coroner Lester Maddrell heard that she had pulled her car over to give her son a lift and immediately noticed that he was drunk.

"As soon as he got in, he started ranting and raving and I could see he was hopelessly drunk," she said in a statement.

"When we got home he went into the kitchen and started making himself a sandwich." Mrs Wood said she left the room after her son shouted that he 'wanted to kill someone'.

A short time later Stewart's father, Peter Wood, came into the house and got out a fishing rod he wanted to fix.

"I was out on the patio trying to fix it when I looked across the lawn and saw Stewart by a tree standing upright. I thought he was fooling around but as I walked across I saw a rope around his neck.

"It was a rope from the garage and it was wrapped several times around his neck. He had started to turn blue.

"I ran back to the house and shouted for my wife to call an ambulance. I got a knife from the kitchen then went back and cut Stewart down."

Mr Wood tried to revive his son but he was later declared dead.

Earlier Mr Maddrell was told that Stewart, 23, had become increasingly introverted after leaving art college at the age of 20, had complained of 'hearing voices' and had become increasingly reliant on alcohol.

"He found it difficult to talk to people and was unable to express himself," said his father. "We thought he may have been abusing drugs. We restricted his alcohol consumption at home but we knew he drank when he went out in Stroud.

"He complained of voices in his head on a number of occasions the latest being two weeks prior to his death."

Reports carried out by psychiatrists asked to investigate Stewart's problems found he was suffering from 'neurotic depressive illness'. When asked if he had suicidal thoughts he replied he 'wouldn't have the guts to follow it through'.

Mr Maddrell heard that Stewart had 163 milligrams of alcohol per 100mls of blood in his system at the time of his death - almost exactly twice the legal alcohol limit for drivers.

Because of the high level of alcohol the coroner recorded a verdict of suicide while the balance of his mind was disturbed.

"The evidence shows a sad story of a disturbed young man whose parents had genuinely tried to help," he said.

"He was clearly affected by alcohol which led to an outburst at his family and an impulsive act which brought about his death."

Verdict: Took his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed.