A TRANSSEXUAL undergoing gender reassignment was found dead in his fume-filled car, an inquest was told.

Geoff Sheehan (48), also known as Debbie Fox, was found by neighbour Susan Jefferson in a car park outside his Radcliffe home, with a hose-pipe leading from the exhaust into his vehicle.

Mr Sheehan, of Farringdon Drive, had moved out of the marital home he shared with his wife, Jacqueline, in Bury, in February last year, following his admission that he had dressed in women's clothes in secret for most of his life.

The Bury inquest, held on Tuesday, heard how the father-of-one changed his name and began permanently dressing like a woman after moving into a flat in Radcliffe.

A statement from Mrs Sheehan, read out at the hearing, said that although he had suffered from depression due to money problems in the past, when she last spoke to him days before his death on August 26 last year, she had no concerns for his health.

Mr Sheehan, who was an engineering technician at Albany International in Pilsworth, was also in contact with Doctor Russell Reid, a psychiatrist from the London Institute.

The doctor confirmed that Mr Sheehan showed no signs of depression on the two occasions they had met.

Mr Sheehan was taking medication prescribed by his GP at Minden Medical Centre, Bury, but had to live and dress as a woman for two years before he could have an operation to alter his sex.

Coroner Simon Nelson told the inquest that he had to say with some regret that he thought Mr Sheehan intended to take his life.

"His death was a deliberate act of self harm whilst the balance of his mind was disturbed," he said. "However, I don't think he would have self harmed if he had not had the anguish and the difficulties associated with his transsexualism and health problems, all of which I am sure contributed to an almost impossible dilemma on his part."