Sutton man who took his own life was found by former partner

An inquest in Nottingham today (Monday September 14) heard that Simon Hurd, 25, left his home on Brookdale Road in the early hours of Wednesday July 15 with a picture of his mother and let himself into his work place at Mick’s Tyres on Elm Tree Street, Mansfield.

Security camera images showed Mr Hurd enter the garage just before 3am.

Less than four hours later his body was discovered by his former girlfriend after she discovered a text he had sent her at 3.07am.

When she received the text she contacted police and went to Mr Hurd’s place of work in Mansfield where she, and Mr Hurd’s boss, discovered his body, the inquest heard.

Assistant coroner Amanda Cranny said: “If I return a verdict of suicide I must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he intended to take his own life.

“Having considered all the evidence before me in this case it appears me that Mr Hurd had been considerably affected by the by break-up of his relationship with his partner and in addition was affected by his mother’s death some years before.

The inquest heard that Mr Hurd had been the carer for his mother and his grandmother and that their deaths had affected him deeply.

In a statement his ex-partner said that Mr Hurd had been in a relationship that lasted six months but that it had ended. Although he had contacted his ex-partner with texts asking for a second chance, he appeared to have accepted that it was over. They had seen each other on July 14 when she called to drop something off at the garage and that he had seemed ‘perfectly OK.’

A post-mortem revealed death was caused by hanging.

A toxicology report showed low levels of alcohol and traces of amphetamine in Mr Hurd’s blood.

His GP said in a statement that Mr Hurd had no significant health problems and had not reported any any mental health issues.

Detective Constable Tony Lee said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.