AN EPILEPTIC overdosed on medicine for the condition hours after suffering a seizure in the street.

Mr John Hayes (36) was found dead in the bedroom of his caravan at Doffer Fold Farm, Radcliffe, by wife, Amanda, last September.

The couple, who both suffered from epilepsy, had been drinking heavily before going to bed.

Mr Hayes later took large doses of his wife's medicine while she was asleep.

A verdict of suicide was recorded during an inquest in Bury, which was told that Mr Hayes had left the caravan in a frustrated state the previous afternoon.

He suffered a seizure in Hardman Street and was helped by his wife and passers-by, who recalled him saying that he had attempted suicide on previous occasions.

An ambulance had been called, but paramedics were told they were not needed.

Following a drinking session later that night, Mrs Hayes awoke to find her husband motionless, with empty bottles of the anti-convulsant carbamazepine lined up, their tops replaced.

Paramedics attended the scene, but Mr Hayes was already dead. Tests revealed large quantities of the drug in his blood, along with alcohol and paracetamol.

Recording his verdict, Bury district coroner Mr Barrie Williams, said: "The evidence indicates to me that Mr Hayes must have known not only the toxic effects that the drug would have, but that he did intend his death to be a consequence of his actions."