A STUDENT suffering from depression jumped more than 100ft to his death, an inquest at Mold County Court heard.
Steven Robert Watson, 24, from Fairford in Gloucestershire, was travelling home with his parents and girlfriend on August 30 last year after visiting friends in Rhyl when he got out of the car as it slowed to approach a roundabout and jumped off the Dee Valley Bridge, on the A483 in Chirk.
The inquest on Monday heard Mr Watson had been taken into Ysbyty Glan Clwyd earlier that day because he had been experiencing suicidal thoughts.
He had turned down medication and the offer to stay there on a trial basis.
His mother, Christine Watson, said in a statement he had previously told her he would rather die than stay in a psychiatric ward.
In a statement, Mr Watson’s girlfriend, Victoria Redwood, said: “When Steven was not struggling with depression he was a lovely person and was kind and loving. The depression is not a fair representation of his true character.”
Acting coroner for North East Wales, John Gittins, said: “Whilst this was a deliberate act, the balance of Steven’s mind was disturbed and it was the depressive illness which caused his actions.”
