A TATTOO artist who counted former world superbike champion Carl Fogarty among his customers killed himself after his girlfriend broke off their relationship.

An inquest heard that Paul Gornall, 46, locked himself in his garden shed and inhaled exhaust fumes from a motorbike.

And when his partner discovered his body the next day in the shed behind their home in Bonsall Street, Blackburn, he was sitting next to his bike with a bottle of wine by his side.

Mr Gornall, known as Goz to his many biker friends, had left notes for his son, daughter and best friend indicating that he intended to take his own life.

Gay Hunter Gornall, Paul's partner for 18 years and mother of his children, told the inquest that she and Goz had their "downs as well as their ups".

She said he had developed mood swings which she found hard to cope with.

"He was usually warm and loving but when his mood swung he became cold and hurtful," she told the inquest.

On the night before his death Miss Hunter Gornall received confirmation that her mother was suffering from leukaemia and Goz had been very loving and supportive.

After tea he asked her too look on the internet for information for a design he was working on for a customer but his mood changed dramatically when she first sought information about leukaemia, she said.

Miss Hunter Gornall told how she went upstairs to calm down and get away from the situation.

She said Goz entered the room and called her a "drama queen" because she was crying.

"I shouted at him to get out," said Miss Hunter Gornall.

"I meant the bedroom but he took his sleeping bag and left the house. When he was out I decided to call it a day or at least have a break. I couldn't make him happy."

Later that night the couple talked and Miss Hunter Gornall said she told him of her decision.

"I just couldn't see any other way. We couldn't keep going round in circles," she said.

"One minute we would be happy and the next he would turn on me."

She left the house the following morning to go to work in the tattoo business they ran together in Mill Lane.

"I saw him before I left and he was upset," said Miss Hunter Gornall.

"We were both crying."

When she returned home about 6pm Miss Hunter Gornall found a note pinned to the vestibule door telling her not to go in but to send for Steve, Goz's best friend, straight away.

Miss Hunter Gornall eventually went out to the shed. As she knelt to look through the key holes she could smell bike fumes.

The shed was locked she smashed the window to climb in.

Recording a verdict that Mr Gornall killed himself coroner Michael Singleton said it was tragic that Mr Gornall had reacted to a situation that may well have resolved itself, given time.