A CARPENTER suffering from depression for a number of years took his own life, a coroner has decided.

An inquest on John Arthur Birkenhead, 51, of Rake Lane in Hawarden heard how he had battled with mild to moderate depression in 2006, recovered, but problems re-emerged more than a decade later.

In a statement his wife Yvonne said Mr Birkenhead was up and down in his mood swings.

“I felt like I couldn’t cope with it anymore and I couldn’t tell people what was happening,” she said.

“When other people were around he put on a brave face.

“All these problems took their toll on our relationship.

“He wasn’t the strong man I married – I was like his carer.”

The inquest, held in Ruthin, heard that on September 7 Mrs Birkenhead finished work at 3pm and went shopping before returning home at 4.30pm.

She had not heard from her husband all day and upon searching the house and garage she found he had taken his own life.

John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales (East and Central), expressed concern that Mr Birkenhead was not getting the help he needed from mental health-related services.

He said: “This is a gentleman clearly with issues in his life.

“Someone who is very much at a stage where it was getting on top of him and was too much for him to be able to cope.”

Mr Gittins said Mr Birkenhead attended appointments and consultations with regard to his mental health and depression.

He was found to be struggling with his relationships, his motivation to do his job and in doing hobbies he used to love such as cycling.

He regularly had suicidal thoughts but had no intention or plans to act on them.

The coroner said the post-mortem examination showed no signs of previous illness or injury but the toxicology report showed a fatal level of carbon monoxide.

Giving evidence, Dr Catherine Baker, consultant psychiatrist for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, told the hearing: “Depression can be a variable beast.

“For some people it’s a very severe illness, but for the majority of people it varies in context of stresses, work stresses, relationship stresses and family difficulties.

“Stresses make you feel anxious and low in mood and worried.”

Mr Gittins concluded a suicide death from carbon monoxide poisoning.

He told family members: “I offer my sincere condolences to everyone. I’m sure you all miss him in your own individual ways.

“This is clearly a gentleman with a history of problems and ultimately those problems where overwhelming for him and that is despite the support and concern raised from everyone.”