AN open verdict has been recorded on a Clitheroe man who hanged himself on remand while facing a possible life sentence.

Before the jury retired to consider their verdict, coroner Mr Howard McCann told them they had to be sure Gary Wilkinson, 35, wanted to kill himself, if they wished to return a suicide verdict.

They were to consider what Mr Wilkinson's intentions were and whether it was an attempt to draw attention to himself.

Gary Wilkinson had shown no indication of harming himself. But according to a fellow prisoner, who refused to attend an inquest into his death, he had been in distress about the amount of time he could end up behind bars.

He had been charged with armed robbery after £100 was stolen from Victoria Wine, in Redlam, Blackburn. Alan West, 36, of Heatley Close, Blackburn, received a five year jail term earlier this month for his part in the robbery on January 30.

Mr Wilkinson was found hanged in his cell at Preston prison on March 4. He died two days later, having been transferred to the Royal Preston Hospital.

Consultant and Home Office Pathologist Dr Paul Johnson, said he believed the prisoner had suffered a cardiac arrest almost straight away, when pressure was applied to the neck. His heart would have stopped for some time until resuscitation began. At some time, Mr Wilkinson inhaled some fluid from his stomach and developed pneumonia.

His mother, Mrs Barbara Wilkinson, of Corbridge Court, Clitheroe, said he had tried cutting his wrists in his twenties, following a broken engagement, but what seemed a genuine attempt on his life later appeared to be attention-seeking.

His ex-wife, Karen Wilkinson, said he had started taking drugs within a couple of years of them getting married. Now and again he would see her and their four children.

At times he has spoken of harming himself. Initially, she took it seriously, but then put it down to wanting attention. The last time she saw him, around a couple of months before he died, he seemed depressed.

A statement made by a fellow prisoner was read out. In it, Ian Dudman said that Mr Wilkinson didn't appear to have any problems.

The statement said "The more I got to know him it became obvious he was in distress about the amount of time he might spend inside. It would have been mandatory life if convicted."

Later that night he awoke and found him hanging by a bed sheet tied around a narrow pipe. Prison officer Stephen Clegg, said there was no knowledge of Mr Wilkinson having shown suicidal tendencies.