A former Wigan Observer photographer who took his own life had been diagnosed with depression 17 years earlier, an inquest heard.

Gary Kelman, 44, was found unresponsive at his home on Shevington Lane, Shevington, on October 29 by police officers.

Bolton Coroner’s Court heard his wife Melissa Kelman, from whom he had separated, had raised the alarm when he failed to respond to text messages.

Paramedics attended, but sadly he was confirmed to have died.

The inquest heard Mr Kelman was diagnosed with depression in 2008 after harming himself and being treated on a mental health unit.

But after January 2009 he had no further contact with mental health services until April last year.

The court heard he phoned Mrs Kelman at around 5am on a Sunday morning and was upset, saying he had been sitting on a motorway bridge in Shevington considering ending his life.

She said he had been drinking alcohol and taking cocaine, something he did perhaps once a month when out with friends.

Mrs Kelman took him to see a GP, where he cited “financial concerns”.

He was prescribed antidepressant mirtazapine, referred to a community mental health practitioner and told about self-referring for psychological therapy.

Carolyn Sharrock, an advanced nurse practitioner at Shevington Surgery, said he did not really engage with the mental health practitioner and the case was closed “mutually” as he was feeling better.

He did not collect further prescriptions for mirtazapine and cancelled a follow-up appointment.

Mrs Kelman spoke to her husband every day after that, saying: "He would just say, every single time, ‘yes, I’m fine, I’m good’, so after that it seemed as if things were starting to get better for him.”

She last saw Mr Kelman, who was working as a delivery driver, on a video call on October 27 and said he was “fine”.

But she became concerned when he failed to reply to text messages and called police on October 29.

A post-mortem examination found he died by hanging.

Tests showed he had taken cocaine at some point before he died, with the toxicologist’s report stating it can act as depressant as someone comes down from the drug.

Coroner Stephen Teasdale recorded he died by suicide.

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