A MAN who thought it ‘was the only way out’ took his own life following a battle with depression, an inquest heard. 

Peter Henry Pope, 32, of South Ham, died on March 24, this year. 

An inquest into his death at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard that Mr Pope was discovered hanged in the hallway of his flat, in Pinkerton Road, by his partner at around 6pm. 

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Pope also had a high level of morphine in his blood. 

Officer on the scene PC David Catchpole told the hearing: “When I attended the address there was a female on the floor, who I would later come to know as Charlotte Ling, was on the floor shaking and shouting ‘he is hanging.’ 

“I took action to test the strength of the door and after a single kick, I forced entry and found Peter hanging in the hallway. 

“Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, stating within a matter of moments rigor mortis had set in.” 

PC Catchpole also said that upon searching the flat, there was paraphernalia found consistent with the use of heroin. 

Mr Pope’s neighbour Emma Honeysett told the inquest that he had struggled with depression for years. 

She said that at times he would be ‘wallowing in the flat’ as he did not know people in the area, and he would come round to her property up to five times a day to either chat or borrow something.

In a statement read by North East Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley, Ms Honeysett said: “He told me he felt like taking his life and I told him not to as he had so much to live for.” 

A statement read out on behalf of his partner of three years, Miss Ling, said that he had lots of demons. 

The statement read: “He really struggled with his demons and I told him that he needed to seek support.”

The inquest heard that Mr Pope had not received any help for his depression and was not registered with a GP in the area having moved away from his family in Peterborough. 

Concluding, coroner Mr Bradley said that Mr Pope was ‘in a dark place’ and he saw it ‘as the only way out.’ 

Mr Bradley concluded that Mr Pope’s death was as the result of suicide, adding: “This is a matter of battling his mental health and I would think he was unreachable at the time of the incident.”