A PENSIONER from Chester who was worried about his deteriorating health stabbed himself through the heart in a seafront car park, an inquest held in Prestatyn heard.
The body of 76-year-old retired car salesman Gordon Ellery, from Great Boughton, was found in his car near the Nova Centre in Prestatyn by a couple who pulled up alongside the vehicle to have a picnic.
Police found a 10in knife and a suicide note alongside him.
John Gittins, the coroner for North Wales East and Central, told the Prestatyn inquest the note, which had been addressed to Mr Ellery’s wife June, made it clear he intended to kill himself as he didn’t want to be a burden on anyone.
He recorded a verdict of suicide on the pensioner, of Hunts Close, who died on July 21 last year.
Mr Ellery’s daughter Deena Dutton, of Melrose Avenue, Vicars Cross, said that as a young man he had suffered from polio which left him with a weakened left arm, but he coped with the problem.
In 2004 he had a heart attack and later had prostate cancer, and though he suffered from depression at times was reluctant to take medication.
Mrs Dutton told the hearing Mr Ellery’s physical condition had deteriorated due to the polio and, having been so active, he found it very frustrating.
“He was a very proud man and didn’t like depending on others,” she said.
A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Ellery, who had been born and brought up in India, had cut his wrists before stabbing himself once through the heart.
“It was more than a simple cry for help. He clearly intended to bring his life to an end,” Mr Gittins concluded at the end of the hearing.
