Family's shock at Wigan dad's sudden death

An inquest found Neil Williams took his own life in a “spontaneous act” which shocked his loved ones.

After the hearing, his brother David Williams said friends and family were supporting charities Mind and Papyrus in a bid to prevent other people taking their lives.

They have already sold CDs to raise money, had tattoos and there are plans for a parachute jump in his memory.

He said: “It was a spur of the moment thing.

“He was a kind, family-orientated, loving person.”

The inquest at Bolton Coroners’ Court heard 31-year-old Mr Williams suffered from a possible mental health disorder and had previously been known to self-harm.

He returned to his home on Yewdale Road, Bryn, after spending time with friends.

The inquest heard Mr Williams had seemed “fine” the previous afternoon and was looking forward to going on a family holiday. But an argument broke out with his partner Diane Yates in the early hours of Monday, June 4, this year and Mr Williams threatened to kill himself, the hearing was told.

He jumped over the garden fence and she shouted for him to come back, which he did. But despite Ms Yates’s efforts to stop him, he again ran away.

Ms Yates searched for him, along with Mr Williams’s best friend Ben Kenealy, but he was found hanged a short time later near a fishing lodge off nearby Land Gate Lane.

The emergency services were called but Mr Williams, who worked as a labourer, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 5.05am.

A post-mortem examination found Neil Williams died by hanging. Toxicology tests showed he had been drinking alcohol and taken cocaine and cannabis some time before he died.

Coroner Timothy Brennand recorded a conclusion of suicide, saying he was sure Mr Williams’s death was a deliberate act intended to end his life.

He accepted it was “undoubtedly a spontaneous act”, but he recognised the efforts he took to hang himself.

Mr Brennand said: “I quite understand and have much sympathy with the sense of bewilderment that the family is left with after this quite sudden and wholly unexpected tragedy that has touched all their lives.”