A 50-year-old who was the victim of an alleged assault found the idea of the upcoming court proceedings “too much” and took his own life, an inquest has heard.
Lynn man Darren Nurse had temporarily moved in with a friend after the alleged baseball bat attack in September last year.
He was asked to attend a court hearing to give evidence on October 9, but became increasingly worried about the proceedings.
The evening before, Mr Nurse and his friend, Daphne Ransome, were watching television together when he said “goodbye” to her before heading off to bed.
His friend thought nothing of it, thinking he was just going to sleep.
However, Mr Nurse failed to come down for breakfast as usual the following morning, so Ms Ransome went to check on him upstairs, where she found his bedroom door was jammed shut.
She managed to eventually get in, where she found Mr Nurse dead, lying on a bed with a bag over his head.
Emergency services were called, and paramedics determined they could not do anything to save Mr Nurse.
An inquest was held into his death at Norfolk Coroner’s Court in Norwich, where area coroner Johanna Thompson concluded that Mr Nurse’s death was by suicide.
The court heard that Mr Nurse had a history of suffering with his mental health, and was taking medication for anxiety and depression.
He had been receiving mental health support on and off for a number of years through the NHS, and said that he occasionally had suicidal thoughts.
The day after the alleged assaulted, he was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.
While taken into Lynn’s Police Investigation Centre, he reported having suicidal thoughts again and was seen by a mental health liaison officer, where an assessment was carried out.
During this time, Mr Nurse also visited his GP Practice, the St James Medical Centre in Lynn.
His GP, Dr George Wells, provided a statement which was read out at the inquest.
It read: “The assault and court proceedings were potentially too much for him.
“I was shocked to hear of his death. I had a good rapport with him. He was very vulnerable due to his alcohol use and poor mental health.”
A statement from Ms Ransome added that Mr Nurse was “always open about his struggles with depression”.
“He never hid anything and never was aggressive,” the statement added.
Ms Ransome’s statement said that the night before Mr Nurse’s death, somebody had thrown “food or vomit” at her front door.
Mr Nurse was “adamant” that this was done by the person who had assaulted him, and the police were contacted.
A post-mortem examination determined Mr Nurse’s cause of death as being by suffocation.
Ms Thompson said: “Darren Nurse was highly vulnerable with a history of mental health difficulties.
“Sadly, he had taken his own life by self-suffocation.”
Ms Thompson offered her condolences to Mr Nurse’s friends, who had attended the inquest.
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