A MAN committed suicide following the death of his dog, an inquest heard.

Howard Clifford Newton, of Holly Court in Connah's Quay, died at his home on November 13, aged 56.

Resuming an inquest into his death, John Gittins, coroner for North Wales East and Central, explained Mr Newton had called 999 on the day of his death and told a call handler of his intention to harm himself.

Shortly thereafter a paramedic arrived at the address to find Mr Newton hanged.

The hearing heard Mr Newton, who had moved to North Wales from the Stalybridge area of Greater Manchester about 26 years ago, was known by his GP to have had long term depression and had been upset following the death of his dog five weeks before his death.

Call handler Danielle Healey, based at the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) contact centre in Llanfairfechan, was just six months into the job when she received Mr Newton's call.

He told her he was suicidal and planned to hang himself, the hearing was told, at which time the call was classified as 'amber two' - the third highest priority - and Miss Healey kept him on the phone.

He became unresponsive and his breathing then changed, Miss Healey told the inquest, leading her to follow her 'gut instinct' and upgrade the call to an emergency priority on the basis that he might have been in cardiac arrest.

Miss Healey said: "I had never had a call like that before. There are all kinds of emotions in your head at the time.

"You can't explain how it feels.

"He said he was upset about his dog but it was hard to speak to him."

Mr Gittins said upon arrival at the scene paramedics found his flat door to be unlocked and inside they found that Mr Newton appeared to have set his affairs in order - with a passport and birth certificate laid out by his television.

Asked whether she believed he had intended to end his life, Miss Healey answered: "I had a feeling something was going to happen. The way he was talking sounded genuine."

Mr Gittins praised Miss Healey's actions and told her: "I had the privilege a few weeks ago of visiting the centre at Llanfairfechan and it is not an easy job.

"I'm grateful for the efforts you made in trying to help him."

Gill Plemming, manager of the WAST Llanfairfechan contact centre, said the decision had been the right one and that the service fully supported Miss Healy in having made it.

Asked to explain how WAST's computer system prioritised emergency calls, she explained the service aimed to get to the sickest patients first and as such they were coded as a 'red' call - which can include choking and cardiac arrest.

As Mr Newton was breathing and conscious at the time the call was made he was classified as an 'amber two', she explained, but once the classification was upgraded to red an ambulance was dispatched within a minute.

A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of Mr Newton's death was hanging and found Mr Newton had no other underlying diseases.

The coroner, sitting at County Hall in Ruthin, recorded a conclusion of suicide, adding: "Despite what happened, everything that could have been done was done for this man."