A UNIVERSITY lecturer based in Wrexham took his own life due to "severe financial pressure", an inquest heard.

On November 11, 2019, Darren Marc Wood, 52, was found hanged in the radiography room of Bangor University's School Of Healthcare Sciences campus in Wrexham - where Mr Wood worked as head of Radiography and a lecturer.

An inquest held in Ruthin on Tuesday (September 29) into his death heard that Mr Wood, of Wirral Gardens in Bebington on the Wirral, had failed to return home from work on the evening of November 11, prompting concerns by his wife, Kate, for his wellbeing.

Upon hearing from a security guard that his car was still parked at the school's car park, despite the facility having closed for the day, Mrs Wood contacted the police.

Upon conducting a search of the premises, police found Mr Wood hanged in the department's radiography room - where he was pronounced dead by paramedics at 8.52pm.

Police officers who attended the scene found Mr Wood had left four letters for members of his close family, including his wife and child, and also one for his colleagues.

The inquest heard that Mr Wood had "always seemed happy", and had never appeared to have suffered from any kind of mental illness - always questioning why people end their own lives when he heard someone had done.

However, unbeknown to his wife, Mr Wood had got into "financial trouble", and "struggling with the pressure of finances" decided to take his own life, the inquest was told.

In a statement read out to the court, Mrs Wood described her husband as an "amazing husband and father" and someone who was a "hugely popular" member of the community - which has been left "shocked" by his death.

He was said to also be very popular with his students and colleagues, and will be "very sadly missed" by all who knew him.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Elizabeth Dudley-Jones, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, ruled Mr Wood's death to have been caused by hanging.