AN UNEMPLOYED factory worker from Wrexham committed suicide after suffering years of depression, an inquest heard.
Father-of-two John Bevan, 44, was found lying on his sofa on June 10 after taking an overdose of tablets.
A police officer had to force entry into Mr Bevan's Chester Street flat, where he had lived for three years, after he'd been missing for several days.
North-East Wales coroner John Hughes said at the Flint inquest that Mr Bevan had not been able to find work since he finished at a Wrexham fibreglass factory.
Mr Bevan's sister, Ann Jones, gave evidence and told Mr Hughes that her brother, a former St David's High School pupil, had been depressed since the break-up of his marriage in 1994.
She said her brother had not been able to find work in the past eight years, but had worked on a voluntary basis for Oxfam.
She told how her brother had been 'knocked sideways' by his divorce and had become depressed, suffering low self-esteem.
Mrs Jones said in her evidence her brother was angry and frustrated, had trouble sleeping and had become a binge-drinker.
Mr Hughes told the court that Mr Bevan had apparently attempted to take his own life on three occasions, and left suicide notes on two of them.
Mrs Jones last saw her brother on May 17.
She said: 'He seemed himself, he was always depressed, but appeared normal for him.
'He had said how proud he was of me for the way I had brought up my son, that didn't seem to have any significance at the time, but it does now.'
Mr Bevan's son Phillip also gave evidence.
He said he had little contact with his father since he had found him collapsed after apparently taking an overdose.
A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Bevan had 14 times the safe amount of the painkiller he had been prescribed in his body.
Mr Hughes said: 'There is a great deal of sadness in this case. Mr Bevan had a history of self harm, unfortunately, on this occasion he succeeded.
Mr Hughes expressed his deepest sympathy to the family before recording a verdict of suicide.
